Last Call
by wfea
Summary: If Danny was told he only had five minutes to live, and he could only make one last phone call, who would he call and why? And what about the other characters of Danny Phantom? Strap in, some surprising things are revealed.
1. Danny

**A/N: **This was just a random idea that popped into my mind the other day. I've heard to "Live Like We're Dying" by Kris Allen and "If Today Was Your Last Day" by Nickelback way too many times. This is the result of listening to those songs.

**Time Line: **Three months after PP

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the songs or Danny Phantom.

* * *

**Last Call: Danny**

**

* * *

**

Lying on his bed, Danny was enjoying the feeling of a ghost- and home-work free afternoon. He didn't get many free days like this, so Danny was taking it easy. Sam and Tucker were both busy with family stuff this afternoon so Danny had absolutely nothing to do, and that didn't bother him

His stereo was playing softly, turned to a local radio station. A song he recognized began to play through the speakers. It was "If Today Was Your Last Day" by Nickelback. He closed his eyes and focused on the music. The song talked about living life for today and not waiting until tomorrow to get something done. One line caught his attention: "Would you call those friends you never see?"

That line made him think about another song that talked about living life to the fullest. It was "Live Like We're Dying" by Kris Allen. One of the lines in that song that was similar to the one by Nickelback was "If your plane fell out of the skies, who would you call with your last goodbye?"

Danny sat up on the bed and turned the volume down a little. That's something he could do. He could do a little experiment and figure out who he would call if he only had five minutes to live and someone told him he could only make one last phone call. He would call that person, and tell them that they would be the last person on his mind before his life ended.

So...who would he call?

He had six numbers of Sam's phone number punched in the phone before he stopped and really thought about the question he had just asked himself. He hung the phone up and set it down.

If Danny had only one phone call left to make before he died, he would want to call someone to tell them something they could never find out if he died without telling them. The only thing he would call Sam to tell her was that he loved her. That would be sweet and romantic, but she already knew that he loved her. He told her that every day.

Danny sat down on his bed. The next person he thought of was Tucker. But Tucker was in the same boat as Sam. Danny told Tucker everything—not that he loved him…ew…that'd be gross. The point was that Danny had nothing to hide from Tucker, and therefore, nothing to tell him.

He turned to his parents next. That would be a good call to make, right? They would like to hear from him. If someone told Danny he only had five more minutes to live and that he could only make one last phone call, his parents would be glad that he had chosen them to call. But then again…he didn't have anything he needed to tell them. And well, they would probably talk his ear off so long that if he did want to tell them something, he wouldn't have the chance. He could tell them he was about to die and that would be that. But then they would want to try to fix everything, and it would all go downhill from there.

Danny shook his head. No. He couldn't call his parents.

So what about Jazz? He could tell her that he really appreciated some of her contributions to Team Phantom, and that he really didn't hate the fact that she was a part of the team as much as he sometimes made it seem. Danny allowed a half smile to spread across his face. His sister was smart. She probably knew he liked having her on the team before he knew he did.

So where did that leave him? He'd run out of family and friends to call.

For the next hour, Danny lay on his bed, searching through every inch of his mind, trying to figure out who he would call. He hadn't meant for this to turn into a big thing; he'd just been curious about who he would give his final words to. But now that he was really thinking about it, he realized it was going to be harder than he had originally thought.

People like Paulina and Dash ran through his mind, but he wouldn't want his last words to be wasted on someone who wouldn't appreciate them. Sure, they would probably love to get a call from Danny Phantom, but would they appreciate the fact that Danny Fenton had been thinking about _them _during his final moments? Probably not.

He thought about his teachers, but he didn't have anything important to say to any of them. They were just people that made his life harder. Danny sat up on his bed. Well, in the three months since he'd revealed his identity as Phantom, they weren't purposely trying to make his life harder. But they still gave tests and homework, and Danny was certain that no kid liked that kind of stuff.

Valerie even ran though his mind, but he quickly shot her down. She was too busy avoiding him to talk to him. Ever since the disasteroid, she hadn't looked at him twice.

So who did that leave? He wasn't going to waste his last call on one of the many ghosts he still fought on a daily basis. Of course, he wouldn't actually call them; he'd have to find them, but he still wouldn't bother looking them up just to have a fight. They wouldn't listen to him if he wanted to talk anyway.

But thinking about his ghostly enemies made him think of someone he usually tried not to think about. Someone that Danny needed to tell something—something that no one knew but Danny. If Danny were about to die, and he didn't call this person, there was no way in the world this person would ever find out what Danny needed to tell him, because Danny was the only one who knew what needed to be said. No one knew how he felt about this subject.

Danny smiled and picked up the phone. He knew who he was going to call.

* * *

The man was startled by the phone ringing. He didn't know anyone even knew this phone number. How had anyone gotten it?

He didn't think about it too long; he answered the phone.

"Hello?" he asked cautiously. He hadn't been back for very long, after all. He wasn't ready for very much confrontation. That's why he had changed his phone number. He hadn't wanted anyone calling him.

"Hey," was the answer.

Shocked, he asked, "Is this Daniel?"

"Nope. This is other half-ghost you fight on a regular basis."

He rolled his eyes. He didn't understand teenage sarcasm. "What do you want?" He paused, then asked. "And how did you get this number?"

"Does it really matter how I got it if I have it?" Daniel asked.

He sighed and bit his tongue. The less he said, the less time he'd be on the phone. "Well...what do you want?"

"You're probably going to think I'm crazy, but hear me out, okay?" Daniel paused, as if weighing his next words carefully. "I've been sitting here thinking for the past hour who I would call if someone told me I only had five more minutes to live. I went through everyone I know and decided on you."

Even though he was completely dumbfounded (and pretty sure Daniel was playing a joke on him), he allowed Daniel time to explain. "And why in the world is that?"

"Because, Vlad," Daniel began. "I need to tell you that I'm sorry. Even though I didn't really do anything that I shouldn't have done, I would want to tell you I'm sorry you had to go through everything that you did during the disasteriod incident. And I'm sorry that you've got to be in hiding now."

Vlad was silent for a few moments, letting that information sink in. Daniel was sorry for him. A few months back, that idea would have sickened Vlad. He wouldn't have wanted Daniel's pity. But now...now that everything had changed, he welcomed the fact that someone felt bad for the fact that he was in such a horrible predicament.

"And I knew if I never told you I felt, you would never find out, because no one else knows how I feel," Daniel finished.

"Well...thank you, Daniel," Vlad began. "It means quite a lot that I would be the last person on your mind."

"Yeah, well, good luck with everything, I guess."

"Thank-you." A beat of awkward silence passed by, then the phone went dead.

* * *

**A/N: **Weird, I guess. But I liked it.

I'm thinking about continuing this, maybe. But I'm probably going to need some ideas. My first question is this: Does anyone have any ideas on who Lancer should call?

Now, on to bigger things: I'm almost done writing my next story. I've been writing on it for at least a year or more now. I'm on chapter 16 now, and I have all my ideas down on paper, including a time line. I just have to find time between work, vacations, a college course, preparing for college, and all that other stuff I have to do this summer to finish it. :)

I'm really excited about it thought. I can't wait to post it. I've worked really hard on it and I think it's the best I've written so far. Here's a sneak peak:

"Can we please move along with this?"

Unwillingly, Patty obliged and made her way over to Danny. She bent down and ran her hand through his hair.

"Danny, sweetie, this nice man has come to adopt you and take care of you."

He looked to Jazz. They linked hands. "Ready," Jazz stated.

Patty bit her lip and looked at Vlad. He was simply standing there, giving Patty the privilege of delivering the bad news. She looked back at the siblings, sucked in a breath, and went for the plunge.

"Only Danny is going."

End Sneak Peak

Remember, I would appreciate ideas on who Lancer would call! Thanks for reading! Until next time,

God Bless!


	2. Vlad

**A/N: **I'm back with another last call!

Thanks to all my wonderful reviewers!

* * *

**Last Call: Vlad**

* * *

Vlad had been staring at the phone ever since Daniel had hung up...half an hour ago.

He still couldn't believe that Daniel would be thinking of him in his final moments of life. Didn't he have his family or girlfriend or techno-geek friend to worry about?

But Vlad was touched, even if he would never admit it to anyone else. He was glad that he was still in someone's thoughts. He figured most people had moved on from the big story three months ago; he also assumed that anyone who hadn't moved on only thought of him in a negative way.

So to know that someone was thinking about him—even if it were his mortal enemy—was the best news he had heard in three months.

He was thinking about starting over anyway. Why shouldn't he? He was still wealthy. No one on earth was able to touch the billions of dollars he had floating in banks all around the world. He was planning on using that money to start a life as someone new. Vlad was ready to move on with his life—he didn't want to live life hiding underground, and the only way to ensure that not happening was to start anew as someone different.

And he was finished with villainy. There would be no more Plasmius. The only thing Plasmius had gotten him in over twenty years was his money (not that he could complain) but everything else he had striven for was still out of his reach. During the disasteroid incident, Vlad had given up everything—including his secret identity—to try and gain the entire world. And where had that left him? Hiding underground with no one to turn to. He was still alone: there was no Maddie or Daniel, and Jack was still alive. But those goals were beginning to tire even him.

So he had decided that he was finished with Vlad Masters and Vlad Plasmius.

Wasn't that sort of like ending his life? Not in the literal sense, of course, but figuratively, Vlad Masters would be no more. He was turning over a new leaf.

Which brought him back to the phone in his hand. He tossed it in the air and caught it again, thinking about what Daniel had said. If someone only gave him five minutes to live, he would've called Vlad.

Knowing that, Vlad felt a sort-of duty to pass this on. He felt as if he should search himself and decide who he would call if he were ever in that sort of situation. And since he was ending his life as Vlad Masters, it seemed very fitting that he should make this call.

The hard part was next...and that was deciding who to call. There were probably dozens of choices, but Vlad couldn't imagine a soul that would be willing to speak with him now.

His first thought was Maddie. He would jump at the chance to tell her he was still alive and still longing to see her, but he figured she wouldn't appreciate that. Besides, she may be angry at him for being Plasmius and trying to take over the world, but she had let bygones be bygones when it came to him being madly in love with her. He didn't want to awaken even more hatred in her.

Of course, he could call Jack and go on and on about how sorry he was that he had used him and that he had despised him for what had happened to him in college. But that would've been a lie. And even though he was accustomed to the world of lying, Vlad wasn't going to make that call. Jack would probably believe him anyway, and that would only make matters worse.

He had lists of people he should probably apologize to. People he had hurt or manipulated. But he wasn't in the mood to talk to any of them, and they probably weren't too keen about hearing from him. And he wouldn't want to waste his final breath on something that didn't even matter anymore.

It was a difficult decision, much more difficult than he had originally thought. He had thought Daniel was bluffing about sitting and thinking this through for an hour before making the phone call, but now that he had done it himself, he understood the thought process Daniel must have gone through.

Slowly, just as Vlad was about to give up and leave this for another night, something began to dawn on him. His last call could bring all this ghost stuff to an end. His last call could be to one of his old college chums—someone he hadn't seen in ages.

Someone who had warned him.

* * *

He was flipping through the television channels, trying to find something good on (something not mind-rotting) when the phone rang. He picked it up without a second thought. He had been getting more phone calls lately, after all, and he figured it would be from the same person it was usually from.

"Hello?"

"Hello...is this William Lancer?"

Lancer sat straight up in his chair and dropped the remote control. This wasn't Elizabeth. He would recognize this voice anywhere. It was—

"This is Vlad Masters. Is this—"

"Yes," Lancer answered. "Yes, this is William." He couldn't think of any nice way to say the next thing he was thinking, so he decided to just say it. "Why are you calling me?"

A long sigh sounded on the other end of the phone. "I suppose you haven't been a stranger to the news."

"No," Lancer replied. How could he have missed the news of an asteroid heading toward earth and the mayor revealing that he was half-ghost in front of the entire world? "I haven't."

"Well, this is going to sound strange, but I need to tell you this, and I hope you understand," Vlad began. Lancer was still dumbfounded by the fact that Vlad Masters—his old college friend and now a half-ghost billionaire—had called him.

"I'm listening."

"Remember how we were such great friends in college?" Vlad started.

Lancer couldn't help but laugh a little at that. They had been great together—getting in and out of so much trouble. "Speaking of that, I'm sorry I wasn't able to come to the reunion. When the flu hits hard, it hits hard."

"Yes, well, I suppose I'll let that slide," Vlad commented. "Anyway, remember the week when all I could talk about was going to help Jack with his ghost portal?" Lancer didn't have to think back too much to remember that; he could remember it like it was yesterday.

Lancer had been Vlad's friend, but not Jack's friend. They'd hardly ever seen each other. Vlad was the only thing they'd had in common. So when Vlad had told Lancer something about testing a ghost portal with Jack, Lancer had immediately sensed trouble. He had never trusted Jack based on some of the crazy stories Vlad had told him, and the fact that Vlad was willing to stand in the same room with Jack and a ghost portal was the final straw for Lancer.

"_Ghosts are make-believe anyway, man," William said. _

"_There's a world of possibilities out there, Will! We might as well try." _

_Will shook his head. "I don't know where my best friend went, but this isn't him. You've never thought that."_

_Vlad sighed and leaned against the wall. "Okay, well, there's this girl—"_

_Will groaned and put a hand to his head. "Of course...now it makes sense. Dude, you don't need to risk your life for a girl. You can always find a better way to get her attention. Like, I dunno, asking her out or something." Will always had to be the voice of reason. "C'mon, what is safe about standing in the same room as a ghost portal and Jack Fenton?"_

_"You talk about him like you know him. He may be a bumbling idiot, but he would never mess something as big as this up."_

_Will sighed and put a hand on Vlad's back. "I only know what you've told me about him. C'mon, man. Let's get back to the dorm. We can talk over some pick-up lines you could use on that girl and—"_

_Vlad jerked away from Will. "No, Will. I'm going to that testing. Even if I'm the only one in there with Maddie and Jack, I'm going."_

Vlad had walked away and Lancer had never seen him again in school. And he'd only seen him in the hospital once, but Vlad had been asleep and Lancer hadn't wanted to wake him...or talk with him.

When Vlad had revealed himself to the world, Lancer had instantly thought back to the day Vlad had gone to test that ghost portal, and he had remembered the ecto-acne that had resulted. He had put two-and-two together and figured out that Vlad had gotten his ghost powers from that accident.

Returning to the phone call, Lancer answered. "Of course I remember. What about it?" Lancer rarely thought about his college days or his college friends.

"Well, I just wanted to call and tell you that I should've listened to you that day when you tried to talk me out of going. You were right about having a bad feeling about the testing."

Lancer didn't know what to say to that so for a few moments, the line was silent. "So...you...haven't liked being...a ghost?" Lancer asked, rather awkwardly.

"It's not that; it's very complicated actually," Vlad admitted. "I just decided that I needed to tell you that you were right."

Lancer nodded, even thought Vlad couldn't see him. "I guess I understand, but why are you telling me this now?"

"I just realized that if I were only given five minutes to live and one phone call to make, I would call you to tell you this," Vlad told him.

"Wow, Vlad, that's really...nice, I guess—wait, you don't only have five minutes to live do you?" Lancer asked, suddenly alarmed that his old friend's life may be being threatened.

Vlad laughed. "No, I was simply carrying out what I thought it was my duty to do. Thank you for you concern though."

Lancer laughed at his paranoia, then focused once more on the call. "So is this a final goodbye?"

"Sort of like one, yes," Vlad replied. "You will never hear from me again, Will."

"Well then, goodbye old friend," Lancer bidded.

"Goodbye."

"And thanks; it means a lot that I would be on your mind in your final moments of life."

"Your welcome."

And with those final two words, Vlad hung up, leaving a still-curious William Lancer in his wake.

* * *

**A/N: **This was fun to write. I didn't think it would be so much fun, but imagining Vlad and Lancer being old college chums is kinda funny.

I don't think we were ever told what Lancer's first name was so I used William because of my favorite Lancer stories, the Spirit Quintology, written by Erratta.


	3. Lancer

**A/N: **I seriously forgot about this story going on. Heh. Oops. I hope I still have a few people interested in it!

**Disclaimer: **Me no own DP.

* * *

**Last Call: Lancer

* * *

**

Honestly, did his students ever _try _to do good?

If the tests he were currently grading was any indication, they didn't. Of course, there was always the select few that made high grades, but most of his students pulled out a C or F. What kind of a teacher did that make him?

Lancer sighed and moved onto the next test. The first thing he noticed about the paper was the words "Not Finished" that had been written across the top of the page. Lancer glared at the paper. He never allowed his students to finish a test at a later time. Who had—?

A knock on his door caught his attention. Lancer glanced up before he could glance at the name written on the test. Danny Fenton was standing in the door, smiling sheepishly. "Hey, do you mind if I finish that test from yesterday?" he asked.

Lancer looked back down at the test to see that Danny's name was scrawled at the top of it. Now he remembered. A ghost had attacked the school, and Danny had gone off to save the day. Lancer sighed, then smiled and held the test out for Danny to finish.

"I was just getting to it," he disclosed.

Danny smiled big and took the test. "Thanks, Mr. Lancer."

As Danny sat down, Lancer returned to grading tests. The next test belonged to Harper Masterson. Lancer bit his lip and tried to concentrate on grading, but it was a futile effort. All he could think about now was the strange phone call from Vlad last night.

Lancer set the red pen down and opened the top left hand drawer in his desk. He slid out a picture of a beautiful woman. Her name was Elizabeth and their wedding was only a month away now. He could hardly wait.

He set the picture back in the drawer and closed it softly. He kept it hidden so his students wouldn't bug him about it. After he was married, he would set the picture out, but for now, he figured he was saving himself a load of trouble by keeping it hidden.

But Lancer thought of Elizabeth to think of this: he felt like he should make a last call to someone. But to whom was the question.

Rather, that had been the question last night. The question had been easily answered, but Lancer wasn't able to bring himself to make the call quite yet. However, for Lancer to get married with a clear conscience, he knew he would have to make the call.

But...what would he say? Lancer hadn't talked to this woman in years. They hadn't spoken ever since that fateful day twenty years ago. Every day, her daughter walked into his class, and Lancer was painfully reminded of what he had given up.

He loved Elizabeth now, though. There was no other woman for him, but there was no way he was going to move on with his life he didn't take care of the past first.

But taking care of the past meant calling this woman, which meant coming up with something to say. Which brought him back full circle once more.

Lancer hadn't even realized that he had been staring at his desk until he saw Danny's test flash before his eyes. He glanced up at the teen. He was still smiling. "Thanks, Mr. Lancer." Before he turned to walk out the door, a concerned look passed over his face. "Are you alright? You don't look so good."

Lancer sighed and raised his eyebrow at his student. "Is it really necessary for me to share my problems with my student, Mr. Fenton?"

Danny smirked, and folded his arms across his chest. "If you want, I'll change into Phantom and I won't technically be your student anymore."

Lancer allowed a slight laugh. "Can you keep a secret?"

Dryly, Danny answered, "I think I can manage."

"Right." Lancer paused. Why was he telling his problems to a teenager? "I'm getting married in a month, and—"

"What!" Danny exclaimed. He jumped back, eyes wide. "I wasn't expecting something...something...so out there!"

"And what is exactly is so 'out there' about my getting married?" Lancer questioned.

Quickly recovering, Danny muttered, "Nothing, of course."

"Anyway, that's all that's on my mind. Nothing more," Lancer lied.

"Uh-huh." Danny picked up his backpack and headed toward the door. "If that were true, you wouldn't have sighed when I asked you what was wrong. See ya later, Mr. Lancer."

With that, Danny walked out the door, unknowingly more right than he realized. There were more things on his mind that just getting married. He turned to the computer, looked up the woman's daughter to find her phone number, an dialed it before he had a second to think.

* * *

She picked up the phone absentmindedly. "Hello?"

"Ah, Samantha? Is your mother home?"

Sam focused more on the caller once she heard the voice. "Mr. Lancer? Did I do something wrong?"

"No, no. I just need to talk to your mother," Lancer stumbled.

"Whatever," Sam mumbled. "MOM! IT'S FOR YOU!" She left the phone by her ear until she heard her mom pick up.

"Hello?" A click on the phone line signaled Sam had hung up. Pamela Manson peeled potatoes as she waited for the caller to say something.

"Hi, Pam. It's me, William." The peeler slipped out of Pamela's hand, and she dropped the potato in the sink. William as in...William Lancer? It couldn't be...could it? She hadn't spoken to him in twenty years. Not since—

"Hi, Will. Is something wrong with Sam? Is she in trouble?" Pamela was determined to let this call be strictly professional. If she allowed the past to bubble up, she'd never get to sleep tonight. She had effectively buried the past and moved on. She'd gotten married to a wonderful man and had raised a family. But apparently, Will had not moved on. From the things she'd heard Sam and her friends talk about, William Lancer was a lonely man who loved to make kids miserable.

"No, no; it's nothing like that." Will sighed hard on the other end of the phone. What was wrong with him? He wasn't going to bring up the day, was he? "I know you've moved on, but I have to—"

"William, stop. Do _not _talk about—"

"If I'm going to move onto the next phase of my life, I _have _to," William insisted. "Now, listen. I'm sorry. I never should have left you at the alter. It was a horrible thing to do. But we were young and crazy. Looking back on it now, I know I made the right choice."

Pamela's hands were shaking. "I know you did too, William, but you went about telling me in the _wrong way_. Besides, it's been twenty years. I've been happily married for seventeen years. Apparently, you're still stuck in the past, but I've moved on. Stop bringing me down!"

William growled on the other side of the phone. "I know you've moved on, but I can't until I clear this mess up. I want to apologize for being entirely rude to you. I'm happy you found someone better for you."

"What...you couldn't, oh, get married without calling me—that's it! That's what's going on! You're getting married, aren't you?" Pamela had meant the comment to come out sarcastic. Instead, she smiled. "Congratulations, William!"

He laughed on the other side of the phone. "Thank-you. But that's not the whole reason why I called you. I was thinking about who I'd call if I only had five minutes to live. I realized I had never told you how immensely sorry I was for leaving you that day. I was hoping you'd find it in your heart to forgive me."

Pamela laughed. "I suppose so, Will. It's been quite a long time, hasn't it?"

"It has."

"Well, good luck with your planning, but I really need to go. I would rather like to finish supper tonight, sometime."

Will laughed. "Goodbye, Pam, and thank-you."

"Goodbye, Will."

* * *

**A/N: **:) I like this. I hope you do too. Please review and tell me your thoughts!

Check out Amity Park Star, a story about Danny and Jazz, separated at six and four and unknowingly reunited ten years later. But there's more to the story than that!

Thanks for reading!


	4. Pamela Manson

**A/N: **Just to let you know, I never actually forget about this story. I simply use this story as a means to write when there's nothing else going on. Now, _should _I be writing other things? Of course! Am I? Of course not!

I hope to still have the attention of the few that were reading this. I really appreciate reviews. They make me smile and know that I have done a good job at the end of a chapter. So thanks to my reviewers and here's hoping I'll still have some after this chapter!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Danny Phantom.

* * *

**Last Call: Pamela Manson**

* * *

"Supper's ready!"

Pamela Manson's sing-song voice carried throughout the vast expanses of her luxurious mansion, beckoning her husband and daughter to come downstairs. Her cry was gratefully answered when she heard footfall from two different areas of the house.

Not minutes later, she was enjoying a nice, home-cooked meal with her lovely family—well, as lovely as it could be considering her precious Sammykins still insisted on dressing in that hideous wardrobe of hers. Pam put on an outward smile.

"Sammy...your father and I have continued discussing your lack of fashion and we decided to try and compromise with you."

Sam groaned and set her fork down. "Mom, how much more clear do I have to be? I'm not going to change my style to fit yours."

"But Sammy—"

"Mom, no," she interrupted again. She forcefully changed the subject. "What'd Mr. Lancer want?" Against her will, Pamela blushed.

"He was just informing me that he's proud of you and that Fenton boy for keeping your grades up. He was afraid that after he started cutting you three slack about the whole Phantom thing that your grades would lower. In fact, he was wrong." Pam mouthed off the lie she had come up with only seconds after ending the phone call from William. There was no need to clue her daughter in about the relationship she had once had with Samantha's teacher.

Her husband shot her a concerned look—after all, she had nothing to hide from her husband. He knew all about William leaving her at the alter twenty years earlier. She would have to explain the phone call to him later.

Sam shrugged off the explanation easy enough, and the rest of the meal was spent going back and forth between daughter and parents over clothing tastes.

As Pam was clearing the table off after dinner, Jeremy asked, "Is something up?"

Pam smiled. "Of course not, honey. I'll tell you about it tonight." With a kiss and a reassuring smile, Jeremy bid his wife a goodbye as he retired upstairs.

As soon as the two had left the kitchen, Pam stopped her cleaning. She sat down in one of the chairs and put her head in her hands. The call wasn't still bothering her—in truth, she had been quite scared at first that Will hadn't let the past die—but once she realized that he had indeed let go of the past, she had felt nothing but joy that Will had finally found his match.

What was bothering her then? All throughout dinner, she had felt a bit antsy, as if there were something she needed to do. But what? William had simply called her to tell her that if he were dying and had only one phone call to make, he would call her.

…

Oh.

_That _was it—Will would dedicate the last five minutes of his life to her. Now, her heart was telling her that she needed to dedicate the last five minutes of her life to someone. And that someone needed to be someone who didn't know the truth...just like William had never truly apologized to Pamela, Pamela needed to come out with the truth to someone.

But who?

She quickly dismissed her husband and daughter. They both knew how she felt about everything. Jeremy knew that she loved him no matter what, and Sam knew that no matter what, her style of clothing would never quite satisfy Pamela. But Pam had a feeling that the older her Sammy got, the more intuitive she became—Samantha must know that Pamela loved her, regardless of the constant badgering.

Her mind quickly leafed through all the mothers in the PTA. None of them was important enough to call or interested enough in her life to care. So that ruled out everyone connected to the school.

Or did it?

Pamela sat up suddenly. The answer to her question was so obvious it made her feel stupid.

* * *

"Fenton residence. If you've called to speak to Danny, he's not here; if you've called to complain about Jack or Maddie, they aren't interested; if you need Jazz's tutoring help, her new number is 555-5676. How can I help you?"

Honestly, Maddie hated having to answer her phone as if she ran some sort of large business, but due to the increasing number of calls they had begun receiving once Danny went public with his identity, they'd had to. Besides, the family had already been getting numerous calls for destruction of public property before the Fenton/Phantom thing.

"Maddie?" a voice on the other end of the phone began hesitantly.

Maddie's eyebrows lowered in confusion. This voice sounded famil—

"Pamela," Maddie answered dryly. "What do you need to complain about now?"

A heavy sigh was Maddie's answer. Taken back, Maddie decided maybe she should listen to the woman this one time.

"Maddie," Pam began in her ever-so-chipper voice. "I know we don't like each other, but our daughter is dating your son. I suppose I should at least be civil toward you."

Instead of letting lose the snide remark burning on the edge of her tongue, Maddie replied, "Go on."

"And well, I need to tell you something that I've always been thankful for." A pause. "I've never told you because...well, it's plain embarrassing. But however much I detest my Sammykins love of dark colors and her bleak attitude on the world, I am still her mother and I still feel very deeply about her happiness. Maddie, your son has done wonders for our little Sammy. She was even darker and more unhappy before Danny and her became friends. I just wanted to thank you...for allowing him to continue his friendship with her...even if I don't like it all the time."

Maddie stood in complete silence for a couple of seconds. Had Pamela Manson just...thanked her? Maddie shook her head, trying to clear it.

"Maddie?"

"I'm here, but...did you just thank me?"

"Truly, I did, and I mean it." Pamela stopped for a second.

"Then thank you very much. It means a lot to me."

"I know you're thinking it so I might as well tell you what brought this on." Maddie would never admit to the woman that she was spot on. "I was thinking about having only five minutes to live and who I would call if I had to choose. I choose you, Maddie, because I've never told you how I felt deep down about our kids being friends."

Maddie felt something genuine pull at her heart. Pamela was being dead serious: the woman would use her last breathe to call Maddie.

"Thank you, Pamela."

"Anyway, I should be going before Sammykins fake faints from hearing me talk to you civily."

Maddie actually laughed at that. "Then goodbye, Pamela."

"See ya, Maddie."

The line went dead.

* * *

**A/N**: Aww...sweet moment! Review please!


	5. Maddie

**A/N:**Long time no see guys...like for real. Well, I'm back for the moment, and I have survived my first semester of college...woo hoo! Christmas break is here and I'm so excited about it!

But enough of my life...I'm sure you're all interested in the story, am I correct? :) Let's get a move on!

Thanks to my readers and reviewers; you make my life wonderful and you're great for hanging on with me!

**Disclaimer:**I don't own Danny Phantom.

* * *

**Last Call: Maddie**

* * *

2:38

"Ugh." Maddie sat up in bed quietly, trying to avoid waking her soundly sleeping husband. She slipped on a robe and her slippers and trudged out of the room. Sleep had been evading her for hours now; she wasn't even tired. Her mind was working in overtime, and her heart was pounding from anxiety.

Another door opened as soon as Maddie was about to go downstairs. She turned around to find Danny staring at her with wide eyes. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up. I just got back from fighting Klemper." At this, he shivered. "I was just getting some more blankets for my bed."

Maddie smiled softly. "You didn't wake me up." Truthfully, she hadn't even heard Danny get up to go fight the ghost. "I was having some trouble sleeping; don't worry about it." With slightly concerned eyes, Danny nodded and went to grab some extra covers out of the hall closet.

Maddie turned and started down the stairs again. Once in the living room, she sat on the couch and buried her face in her hands. "Stupid feelings. What am I supposed to do?"

She had been feeling worked up since the phone call from Pamela. And she knew exactly why: she needed devote the hypothetical last minutes of her life to someone, and she knew exactly who she needed to call. The problem was, she didn't like the thought of admitting she was wrong to someone.

Honestly, many other people had ran through her mind since the moment Maddie had laid her head down that night. Jack, Jazz, Danny, Sam, Tucker...tons of familiar faces had bombarded her all night long. What Pamela had told her was something that no one else in the world would have been able to say because no one else in the world knew how she felt. For that reason, one face kept appearing every other minute in Maddie's mind that night, and she knew that she didn't have anything to tell anyone else in her life that they didn't know already. This girl that she needed to call would never know how Maddie truly felt if she didn't make the call.

Ever since that dreadful night about two months ago, Maddie had been feeling remorseful for what she had said and thought. At the time, she had felt like the feelings were justifiable, but now she seemed unsure. Actually, if she were being honest with herself, she had felt unsure of her actions the very moment she had been speaking. Now, she needed to set things straight and own up to her mistakes.

A single tear ran down her cheek as she thought of the horrible monster she had been toward this girl; she only hoped that the girl could find someway to forgive her.

Maddie sighed and made up her mind to call the girl in the morning. There was no way she would be awake at this time of night.

* * *

She glared at the number on the caller ID. What right did _he_have—calling _her_?

She grasped the receiver. "What?" Granted, she probably could have answered the phone in a more graceful manner. After all, anyone from his household could be calling. But she highly doubted that it would be anyone besides _him_.

"Um...Valerie?"

And just like that, her doubts proved her wrong. It was his mother. "M-Mrs. Fenton. I-I'm sorry. Um, do you need to talk to my dad?"

"No, actually, I need to talk to Dani."

Valerie gripped the phone hard and opened her mouth, about to let some snarky remark lose about how she could just walk down the hall and find him herself, but then she regained her sense and blinked. Not _Danny_ but _Dani_.

"Oh, sure Mrs. Fenton, hold on a sec." She knocked on the door to her bedroom—the one she now shared with the clone of her former friend and enemy. She held the phone away from her mouth. "Dani? Phone's for you."

She heard shuffling behind the door before it opened, revealing a surprised half-ghost. "Me? I never get calls."

"It's...Mrs. Fenton," Valerie stated slowly.

Dani's glare darkened, remembering the first and last time she had seen or spoken to the mother of her cousin Danny.

"_Clone? What do you mean clone?" Dani stood behind Danny, looking around him. Danny had assured her that his parents would be open to the idea of her living with them. After all, they had taken the ghost thing pretty much in stride. Why would a clone be any different? _

"_Yeah. Long story short, Vlad created her, but she turned on him and joined me to help defeat him. She's been roaming since then, but she found me today and asked if she could stay with us. I figured you'd say yes, but I just wanted to ask—" _

_His mother interrupted. "Danny, no." _

_Danny took a step back, causing him to push Danielle away as well. "What?"_

_His mother's glance jumped between him and the ghost girl before she closed her eyes and turned away. "Sweeite, I don't think I can handle it right now. Besides, she's not—she's not you...just your clone. We're barely used to your new life. How many things can we be expected to handle at once? And Jazz is about to leave for college, and what—we're supposed to let this girl move into her room? We don't even know her."_

_"But mom, you can get to know her. She's a person, not just some carbon copy of me." At this, Danny motioned toward Danielle. "She needs a place to stay."_

_Maddie began walking out of the room. "Well, she can stay with someone else. Not here, not now. I don't want her here."_

After being rejected from her cousin's home, Dani had gone to the only other person she knew. Well, that's not completely true—she knew Danny's friends Sam and Tucker, but she wasn't as close to them as she was to Valerie. Her and Valerie had formed a slight friendship, and she had hoped that Valerie would let her stay with her. Thankfully, convincing Valerie had not been difficult. She had been sharing a room with Valerie for the past two months, and she still spent time with Danny at school, where she had enrolled at the beginning of the school year. She wasn't mad at her cousin, just frustrated at his mom

She took the phone and held it to her ear. Taking a deep breath, she spoke. "Hello?" Whatever Mrs. Fenton had to stay, Danielle was sure she didn't want to hear it.

"Dani? Oh, Dani, I'm so so sorry." Shocked at hearing those words spill from Mrs. Fenton's mouth, Dani decided to listen closer. She could tell that the woman had been crying lately from her thick voice. "I don't know what I was thinking that night when Danny asked if you could stay with us. I was just still getting used to everything, and well, I could make excuses all day long but they wouldn't matter. Dani, I just wanted you to know that my prejudice toward you is gone, and it was justified in the first place. I'm so sorry for what I did, and I don't think I'll ever be able to apologize enough."

Dani held the phone loosely in her grip, eyes wide and mouth hanging open at what Danny's mom had just said. She had...apologized for being rude to her and shutting her out. Her words were so unexpected, but they were welcomed, and Dani felt her own eyes watering.

"Danielle?"

"I'm here, Mrs. Fenton," Dani answered. "I just...don't know what to say. Thank you, I suppose."

A slight laugh sounded from over the phone line. "Oh, Dani. I'm so glad you found a friend in Valerie and that she let you stay with her all this time, but if you still want to, I'd love for you to move in with us."

"What? For real?" Dani could barely contain her excitement. She loved living with Valerie, but she felt like she was imposing on her and her dad. There was barely enough room for the two of them. And besides, she belonged with Danny. "I-I don't understand. Why did you change your mind?"

"So many things...I've felt so horrible over the past couple of months, and well, I got this phone call yesterday from this woman who told me she would take the last five minutes of her life to call me and clear the water. I guess that sort of put me over the edge, and it made me truly confront my unjustified, harsh feelings toward you."

"Wow Mrs. Fenton...thank you so much." Dani smiled, feeling completely at ease and happy now that her and Danny's mom were straight with each other. She glanced at the clock and gasped. "Oh no! I've got to go. I'm gonna be late for school!"

Maddie laughed on the other end. "You take off, and let me hear from you soon, okay?"

"Will do. Thanks, again. Gotta fly!"

With that, Dani hung up the phone and, belatedly realizing her pun, changed into her ghost form and shot through the roof, into the sky, and toward the school.

* * *

**A/N:**I was trying really hard to not make Maddie seem OOC for not letting Dani stay with them. Honestly, I think she would let her stay in a heartbeat, but everything else in this chapter (and the next and honestly, in one later on in this story) flowed so perfectly that I tried my best to make Maddie believable here because Dani just _had_to stay with Val for awhile. More from Dani in the next chapter!

Ok, so I've got quite a bit of the rest of this story planned out now, but I'd love some input. Who do you want to make/receive a last call? I've made a list of everyone, and I want to make sure I don't forget anyone important. I don't wanna tell you who I've got planned and ruin the surprise, but if you can think of anyone you think I may not have included, lemmie hear it! (No ghosts, though.)

Anyway, hope you enjoyed. Please let me know; I love feedback!


	6. Danielle

**A/N**: Yes! This story is finished!

Okay, don't give me THAT look. It's not finished here, it's finished in my head...which is a great thing! I started this story way back in 2010 as a simple one-shot after listening to "Live Like We're Dying" by Kris Allen and "If Today Was Your Last Day" by Nickelback way way way too many times. I thought it'd be fun to have Danny unexpectedly call Vlad, but the wheels in my head got to work and then I posted Vlad's chapter. I then decided to use this story as a place to write stuff that randomly popped into my head while I was busy editing and posting _Amity Park Star_. Of course, I ended up forgetting about this story for awhile. :\

But NOW, I'm back full force, with the rest of every chapter planned out (which is how I _like _to write stories—I don't like random surprises popping up and then being stuck because something that was said earlier wouldn't make sense anymore). Each chapter before this was a plan in and of itself, and the rest of these chapters are too, but I hope they will feel more connected. I do, however, plan make sure to not contradict anything previously written in earlier chapters. And honestly, I'm happy with each and every one of the chapters before this one as well.

Please excuse the long-windedness and enjoy the chapter! I realized last chapter that I had never written about Dani in length (I'm not counting _Saving Danielle: My Story_ because the majority of that was taken from the actual episodes). *sobs* Yay for fixing things!

By the way, I totally love writing about Valerie; she's one of my favorite characters to write. :D

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything I probably shouldn't and this will be the last time I say so during this story. Thanks a ton!

Thank you everyone who reviews! I thrive on good reviews! And thanks to everyone who reads!

* * *

**Last Call: Danielle**

* * *

"_Danielle?" Valerie slowly asked as the door opened. Dani smiled sheepishly._

"_Um, hi. Can I—can I come in?" Valerie looked angry, but she stepped back and let the girl in, looking around outside before shutting the door. _

_"Your...um, cousin...didn't send you here, did he?" Dani sighed and turned around. _

"_No. He doesn't even know I'm here. And I'm not gonna beat around the bush about _why _I'm here." Dani faced Valerie head on. "I'm looking for a place to live, and his mom doesn't like me, so she won't let me stay with them. I was wondering if you had any room."_

_Valerie's eyes widened. "You want to...stay with me?" _

_Dani looked depressed when she answered. "If it's too much trouble, don't worry about it. I know about your history with Danny, so I understand if you don't like me anymore, but I really thought we hit it off good that night, so I was hoping—"_

"_Ah—say no more." Dani looked up, fully expecting Valerie to tell her to leave; after all, her and Danny's past was complicated, and she had it in bad for Danny—why would she still like his clone? His own _mother _didn't like her...why should this girl still like her after only one meeting? However, Valerie's answer warmed her heart—well, a little at least. "Don't ever mention your cousin's name again, and you can stay here. I still like _you_." _

Dani smiled fondly at the memory of the night she had asked Valerie for a room. Granted, she didn't realize at the time that Valerie and her dad didn't have an extra room, but she had enjoyed spending the last two months living with Valerie. She had even enjoyed sharing a room with the older girl. They had had so many late nights and long chats together. They were just like sisters. Valerie had even said as much—that Danielle was just like the younger sister she had always wanted.

Dani sighed and stuck one last pair of jeans into her bag. She looked around the room but didn't find anything else that belonged to her. She would miss her sister, but she was excited about getting to live with her cousin.

A knock on the door startled her, but Dani smiled when she turned and saw Valerie. Valerie was smiling as well, but her smile was sad.

"I can't believe your leaving, Dani. It feels like you just got here."

Dani laughed. "Well, I told you I didn't know how long I'd need to stay, but I can honestly say I didn't expect to be leaving anytime soon. I still can't believe that I get to live with Danny!" Tears were in her eyes now, but Dani wiped them away. She noticed the sour look on Valerie's face. "Not that I haven't had fun living with you. These past couple of months have been the greatest. But you need your space, and I need my cousin. But I'll always need my sister too."

Valerie smiled at this, and she gathered Dani in hug. "You have to visit all the time, okay?"

"Duh," Dani stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. She picked up her bag and headed toward the door, but she stopped. Now that she was leaving, she wasn't bound to her promise of not mentioning her cousin's name, and Danielle thought the time had come to do a little questioning.

"Hey, Val?"

"Hmm?"

Dani stalled for a long second before diving in. "Why do you hate Danny? And why don't you hate me?"

Valerie looked stunned at the question. Her mouth opened to form an answer, but it closed just as fast. Then she closed her eyes, and her mouth formed a tight line.

"I could never hate you Dani. You never lied to me, after all." Dani's eyes widened.

"That's why you hate—"

"_Please_ don't say his name," Valerie cut her off, holding her hands up. Just then, Dani's ghost sense went off, and Valerie's ghost detector beeped. Dani dropped her bag, but Valerie held up a hand and triggered her suit. "I got this one; don't worry." She ran to open her window, but before she jumped out, Dani had one more thing to say.

"You can't just keep running from your problems, Val."

Valerie paused and sent a look over her shoulder before turning to pursue the ghost. Dani put a hand on her hip and thought about taking off after Valerie, but she changed her mind. She figured the girl would come around eventually. Besides, Dani had one thing left she wanted to do before leaving, and she was glad Valerie wasn't hear to watch her do it.

She wanted to make a last call; after all, Maddie calling her had changed her life, and Dani wanted to change someone's life too. But who? That question had been bothering her all day long through classes and lunch and fighting ghosts, but she had finally figured out who she should call.

At first, Dani felt like she would never figure out who to call. She'd been all over the world and met so many people; how could she pick out who to give her last words to? But the harder she thought, the more Dani realized that the people who had made the biggest impact in her life were right here in Amity Park.

Valerie, for one, had been the biggest help of all, but Dani had told her a million times how grateful she was. And Dani wanted to commit the last five minutes of her life to someone who would never know the truth about how she felt unless she told them—just like Mrs. Fenton had done.

So Valerie's name was struck from her list, along with Danny and his friends, who all knew how much she appreciated their help and encouragement over the last two months. For a split second, Dani had toyed with the idea of calling Vlad and, at the very least, thanking him for making her so that she could now have a life—she didn't think she could ever forgive him for what he'd done. But Dani had immediately stopped that train of thought: calling Vlad wouldn't be brave, it would be _stupid_.

So as the day progressed, Dani's list had shortened dramatically until she realized how silly she had been to overlook this person in the first place.

* * *

"Yeah, you're totally right. Picking out your prom dress now is an absolute _must_; you'll have yours claimed and no one will dare to cross you." She paused, waiting for the other girl to speak.

"I'm staring at the perfect dress right now; should I post a picture online and say that I've already bought it?"

"Mhmm, you should totally post it online; that way, anyone who tries to buy the same kind as you will be publicly humiliated in front of the whole school because they'll know that you had yours—"

She paused when she heard a beep on the line, alerting her that she had another call. She glanced at the caller ID. Upon seeing Valerie's number, she knew she needed to get off the phone with Paulina quickly. She always liked talking to Valerie better anyway.

"Hey, Paulina, I'll call you back in a minute. I've got another call."

"Hurry _up_, Star" Paulina whined. "We need to talk about color coordinating for our double date Friday night." With those words, the phone went dead. Star quickly switched lines.

"Hey, girl! Sorry, I was talking with Paulina about prom dresses. Can you believe she already wants to buy hers?" Star laughed. "It's only the beginning of September!"

A beat of silence passed on the other end of the line before a voice spoke up. "Umm, I don't think you talking to who you think you are."

Star frowned at the familiar voice that didn't belong to Valerie. She knew the voice, but—

"Dani! Wow, I am so sorry; Val is the only person who ever calls me from this number. I forgot that you live with her." Even though Star was happy to talk to the girl, she had to wonder why she had suddenly decided to call her. She had never spoken to Dani outside of school before.

"It's cool; I know this is a bit random and all." Dani sounded slightly nervous.

"Yeah, but it got me out of talking about prom dresses with Paulina. What's up? Something wrong?"

Dani laughed. "Just the opposite. I've been thinking today about some stuff, and well I decided that I need to tell you thanks." Star racked her brain for something Dani should be thanking her for but came up short. The girl continued before Star could ask her what she meant. "Remember those first few days at Casper when everyone was making fun of me because they figured I was a Danny wanna-be?"

Star frowned. Yes, she did remember. Even she thought that for cousins, those two looked _way _too similar (Dani almost looked like a _clone _of Danny, but Star was pretty sure that was impossible, even though the girl had ghost powers like Fenton), but she didn't see any reason why people should make fun of the girl for it. She obviously wasn't _trying _to look exactly like Danny; in fact, Star distinctly remembered her trying to look as much _un_like Danny as she could, without dying her hair or getting contacts, that is.

"Yeah, I remember, but why bring that up? That was weeks ago. No one's making fun of you again, are they?" She didn't know why, but Star had taken an instant liking to the girl and had hated to see her get bullied around. Valerie had known her before school started and swore that she was a jewel and that she knew how to take care of herself, but Star could tell that Dani was letting the snide remarks about her appearance get her down.

"No, no. Everything's good, but I was just wondering if you remember what you did that day in the cafeteria for me?" Star thought back to the second week of school. She had been sitting with the popular crowd, as always, when she noticed a group of nobodies taunting Dani. Most of her friends had sneered in the general direction of the girl. Star knew they didn't mock Dani, but they didn't really care for her either. Star had clenched her teeth, stood up, and marched toward the group of kids.

"_Isn't it sad to be such a crazed fan-girl when you're his _cousin_?" one of the kids had asked, causing the entire table full of students to laugh. Star passed the group of students at one table and Dani at the next and went to buy an apple at the register. She then turned back around and sauntered back toward her seat, pretending to have just noticed Dani sitting there all alone. _

"_Wow, girl. You're jacket is so cute!" Dani glanced up at the blonde, who smiled in return and didn't spare a second glance at the hooligans at the next table. "Where did you get it? I have to have one just like it."_

_"Uh...I'm not really sure. It was a gift." Star was sure the gift must have been from Danny, and Star mentally gave Dani props for not mentioning his name at this particular moment._

"_Well, if you find out, please let me know ASAP. It's what all the popular kids are wearing these days." Star flipped her hair and took a bite of her apple. "Oh, did you want to come sit with us?" Star glanced toward Paulina and the rest of her posse. They were all staring at her wide-eyed. _

"_N-no thanks. I'm good here; my friends will be here in a minute." _

_Star pouted, allowing herself to feel frustrated at the loss. "Well, okay, suit yourself." Honestly, she was glad the girl had turned the offer down; after all, she wasn't sure that her friends would accept the girl or not. Star strutted away from the table, throwing a sly glance at the nobodies. They were completely silent now, staring at Star with dumbfounded expressions on their faces. Star smirked. She'd done her job; even if she weren't the most popular girl in school, people followed her example, and if she made it obvious that she liked Dani, then others would start being nice to the girl. _

Only three weeks had passed since the small scene she had caused in the cafeteria that day, but as far as Star knew, no one was taunting Dani anymore. The students that had overheard the conversation must have spread the word that Star liked Dani. Star actually hadn't thought much more about the day since it had happened, but apparently, the day had made a huge impact on Dani.

"Yeah, I remember it; what about it?"

Star could hear the smile in Dani's voice when she answered. "Well, I don't think I ever told you how grateful I am for you doing that for me. People stopped making fun of me the next day, and my life got a whole lot easier after that. So thanks."

Star allowed a small smile to grace her face. "You're very welcome."

Dani sighed. "I guess I just couldn't let another day go by without telling you that. I mean, if something horrible happened to me and I only had five minutes to live and one last phone call to make, I decided that I would need to call you. If I didn't then you'd never really know for sure how much I cared about that day, and that'd be unforgivable." Star thought about Dani's words, and even though they seemed sort of random and radical, Star had to agree. "That's what someone told me anyway, and I figured I should pass it on."

Star was still smiling. "Well thanks, Dani. It means a lot for you to tell me that."

"No prob, but hey, I gotta get going. I'm running late already."

"Alright. Talk to you later."

"Yeah. See ya, Star."

* * *

**A/N: **I guess I sorta like thinking about Star as the popular girl who rides the fence. After all, she is still friends with Valerie, so I like to think that she has at least a couple more brain cells than Paulina. ;)

Thanks for reading guys!


	7. Star

**A/N**: Hey hey hey I'm back!

**If you're not majorly concerned with the timeline before the story, don't read the following three paragraphs, but if you are the slightest bit confused about the timeline before the story and/or want a glimpse into how my mind sometimes works, read on.**

I just realized I have flubbed slightly with the timeline. The canon timeline annoys me greatly, but I was trying to work with it. Canon leads us to believe Danny should be a junior in school after the summer breaks in **Reality Trip **and **Claw of the Wild**. I set this story as three months after Phantom Planet, but I also, without realizing it, set it to where Jazz was just moving off to college and Danny and everyone was just going back to school (where they would have had to have been seniors, based on canon timeline because that would have made three summers that had gone by).

However, there's only one episode between **Claw of the Wild **and **Phantom Planet**, so it wouldn't make sense for an entire year to have passed. (In other words, in my timeline, they had their summer break during **CofW**, went back to school for their junior year, where nothing happened, except for Dani showing back up, until the very end of the year when the disateroid struck. They then had summer break and went back to school for their senior, and the story picks up a few weeks after that.) But the way I've written so far, I make it out to seem like they are only juniors.

That mess doesn't seem logical, so I propose ignoring the events of **CofW**. That way, the trio will be legitimately be juniors, my time references won't need to be changed, there wouldn't have been an entire year of no activity, and Jazz starting college would make sense.

**In other words, Danny, Sam, and Tucker are juniors, not seniors, and nothing from the story has changed.**

Thanks to all my reviewers! I got the most reviews for the last chapter that I've had since chapter one. You guys are great!

**Disclaimer**: I don't own _To Kill a Mockingbird_, although I believe it to be an amazing book!

* * *

**Last Call: Star**

* * *

The next day at school, Star slammed her locker shut after third period. She leaned against the cold metal. English was next...how she hated English. At least the class was more bearable since her best friend sat right next to her. Speaking of which...

"Valerie, there you are. I was beginning to think you'd abandoned me."

Valerie was breathing heavily, but she plastered on a smile. "Would I ever abandon my friend?" Star raised a delicate eyebrow. Val sighed, defeated. "Well, would I ever abandon my friend two days in a row?"

"That's better!" Star laughed. Valerie opened her locker and began emptying her book bag. "Seriously, Val, where do you disappear to all the time?" Star noticed how Valerie's shoulders tightened and her face twisted up for a second before she answered.

"Nowhere."

Star shrugged. "Whatev—it's not my problem." She allowed a moment of silence to pass. "But what is my problem is Paulina."

Valerie smirked. "Lemmie guess. She—"

"—is saying she already bought her prom dress," both Star and Valerie said at the same time. Star's eyes popped. "Who told you?"

"Lucky guess." Valerie closed her locker door, but the two girls didn't make any move toward class. They still had a few minutes left before being subjected to Lancer's lecture on _To Kill a Mockingbird_.

Star sighed. "And she wants me to pick mine out soon. She says if I don't, then her image will be ruined. I'm not exactly sure how that works, but I suppose it makes sense in her mind."

Valerie smiled softly. "I don't understand why you still hang out with them. I mean, you still stick around with me, and it's been two years since they kicked me out. And all you do is complain about them—especially Paulina."

Star flipped her hair off her shoulder and sent a meaningful look at Valerie. "My reputation is everything to me, Val. I can't afford to lose it."

Valerie looked as if she wanted to counter the girl's statement, but Star was sure the look on her face would stop anything Valerie wanted to say.

"Um...so why is Paulina buying her dress so earlier anyway?" Star rolled her eyes.

"You won't like the answer."

"What? Why?"

Star was about to answer, but the former loser trio was just walking by to her left, and Star figured out a better way to answer her friend. "That's why." She pointed at Fenton. Valerie whipped her head around to see what her friend was pointing at. Star took in the group of friends. They were just...walking. Danny was holding Sam's hand, and Sam was slapping Tucker—for something he probably deserved. They all looked normal...like they always had, but now the world knew that the most normal teen at Casper High was actually a butt-kicking, world-saving, totally cute, paranormal ghost. And somehow, all those things combined seemed to make for a very non-normal teenager.

Danny rolled his eyes at his friends and shot a glance in her and Valerie's direction, but he quickly turned his head back straight, probably after realizing that Valerie was looking at him. Star knew her friend didn't like Fenton for some reason, and she knew those two were carefully avoiding each other whenever possible.

Valerie quickly turned back to her friend and mumbled menacingly. "She wants _him_to take her to prom, doesn't she?"

"Well, of course. What else has she wanted for the last two years of high school?" Valerie growled and started walking the same direction as Danny and his friends, toward Lancer's class. Star hurried to catch up with her. "I don't get it, Val. For the longest time, you had the hugest crush on that loser Fenton...back when nobody cared anything about him. But as soon as he tells the world he's Danny Phantom, you hate him. Every other girl in the school would go gaga over him if he ever dumped Sam, but not you. Why is that?"

Valerie threw a death glare over her shoulder at the blonde. Star held up her hands. "Or...don't tell me. Whichever's fine, really."

The two girls walked into Lancer's class and found their seats in the middle of the room. As soon as they were settled in, Lancer stood up and began droning on about the book that Star was pretty sure she had lost last week. She propped her elbow on her desk and planted her chin in her hand.

She thought back over the conversation she'd had with Valerie—about why she still stuck around with Paulina, even though she was clearly better friends with Valerie. Star didn't think she would ever admit the complete truth to anyone. Sure, she had told Valerie that her popularity was all she had, but there was only one reason Star knew that.

She had lost her popularity before.

The horrible event had happened back in ninth grade, when Paulina had, for some unknown reason, started dating Danny Fenton. (For the longest time, she swore that she had no memory of dating the loser; however, after Fenton had gone public, she suddenly seemed to "remember" dating him and didn't seem to mind telling everyone about it.)*

During that time, Star had fallen to the way-side and had been reduced to spending her time with Tucker Foley. She cringed and looked over at the boy in the back corner of the room. He was sitting a position similar to hers, with a bored look on his face. Star immediately turned back to stare absentmindedly at the front board. She knew one thing for sure: her reputation really _was _all she had, and she never wanted to lose it again, even for only a few days.

Thinking about reputations made her think back to the phone call she'd gotten yesterday afternoon. She was still slightly shocked by it. Really, helping Danielle establish a better reputation throughout the school had not been such a big deal for Star, but she had really made an impact on the younger girl. Star sat back in her desk, thinking about the good feeling she'd had after hearing Dani tell her how grateful she was for Star sticking up for her.

Star sort of wanted to make someone else feel good like that, but she also remembered Dani saying how she wanted Star to know something that she would have never known had Dani not told her. That meant that she could apologize for something or tell someone a deep, dark secret. Star grimaced. Did she have the guts to call someone up and tell them something that no one else knew?

Her answer came quickly: yes, she could. Dani had had the guts to call her, and she would have the guts to call someone else. The real question was who would she call?

She definitely wouldn't call Paulina. The reason for making this phone call was to make someone feel better or to clear the water or something...not to make them mad, which would be the only thing accomplished by her calling Paulina.

So her mind jumped to the next obvious choice: Valerie. But there was nothing too terribly important she needed to talk to Valerie about. They shared almost everything. So she thought about her boyfriend, Kwan, but they shared everything as well. She wasn't exceptionally close to anyone else in the popular crowd; they were just the people she hung out with, so she never really felt the need to spill her heart to them.

Okay, if she weren't going to call anyone she was at least a little close to, who was she going to call?

Her mind began working in overtime. She was trying to think of anyone...anything.

By the time the bell rang for lunch, she had her answer. For last few months, she'd started to feel sorry for something she'd done a long time ago. Now, it was time for redemption.

* * *

"See you guys later!" he called out as the bell rang. His friends walked in one direction as he walked in the other. He was done with school for the day—just like he was everyday at this time. Signing up for co-op his junior year was sort of a must. He needed the time to devote to his career. He couldn't sit through an entire day of school and show up to work after three o'clock everyday—that would never work. But his parents were adamant about him not quitting school, and he agreed with them. The mayor quitting school would probably look bad.

He pulled out his PDA to check what he had to do this afternoon, but before he pulled his agenda up, his phone rang. He slid the PDA back into his pocket pulled his cell phone out of his other pocket. He didn't recognized the number, but he answered anyway.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Tucker, it's Star." Tucker raised an eyebrow. Why was Star calling him? They weren't friends, and he couldn't remember ever having a civil conversation with the girl, even when they "dated" for those few days back freshmen year.

"What's up?" He needed to get this conversation over with fast. He was already sliding into his car, and he always liked scanning his to-do list before he got to the office each day.

"Well, um, remember way back freshmen year when Paulina dated Danny for like, a couple days?" Star asked hesitantly.

Tucker's hand froze while holding the key in the ignition. Why was she bringing this up?

"Um, yeah. What about it?"

Star sighed. "Well, all last year, I sorta started feeling kinda bad about the way I'd treated you those few days. I really shouldn't have been so mean to you. I mean, at the time, I thought acting snobby toward you was the best thing, since you still stuck around anyway, but I've grown up since then, and I wanted to say sorry for treating you like dirt."

Tucker sat back in his car, the key still in the ignition and the car still not running. Had Star just apologized for being a jerk to him? Tucker never really thought much about what she'd done; two years had passed since that event, and Tucker remembered getting so fed up with her that he had decided he didn't like her anymore anyway. But hearing her apologize meant a lot to Tucker and said a ton for how much Star had grown over the years of high school.

Tucker smiled. "Thanks, Star, that means a lot." He figured he should edit his thoughts and leave out the part about how fed up he had been with her. After all, she was apologizing—no need to bring up the memories for her again.

"Good, I'm glad it does. I was sort of worried you wouldn't wanna hear me out." Star paused. "Listen, to be honest, I didn't just randomly decide to call and tell you this. Someone called me and told me something that got me thinking about who I'd call if I only had five minutes to live, and I knew you'd never know how sorry I really was unless I told you."

"Wow...thanks, Star. As surprising as it was to get you're call, I'm glad I answered."

Star laughed. "Good, again. Well, I'll let you go; Paulina's probably waiting for me at lunch."

"Bye, Star."

* * *

*This statement means that Paulina is flaunting the fact that she has dated Danny. It does not mean that Paulina actually remembers dating Danny, knowing his secret, or being overshadowed by Kitty.

**A/N: **No fun back story this time...too bad...I love making those up. But I suppose sticking to canon sometimes is a good thing.

Sorry for the wait. \'(^_^) / I kept meaning to write this, but kept getting distracted or getting too tired to write, and once I did sit down to write, I had to deal with the lovely time warp I created, which involved looking over a couple episodes online—the troubles of being precise!

Okay, I'm not gonna spoil anything, but I am SUPER excited for the next chapter! *runs around in circles and laughs* Anyway, I'm done with the Val drama for awhile. I've laid it on thick for the last couple of chapters and I don't want anyone to get sick of/fed up with it. I also don't want to get too repetitive, which is a huge concern—I mean, really, how many times does it take for Val to see/talk about Danny and get mad until it gets old? -_-

Anywho, thanks for taking your precious time to read! Think you can take one more second to review? Love you all!


	8. Tucker

**A/N**: Hmm...I have...nothing to say. Nice change! :)

Figured I should give you guys an update, since it's been over a week now. It's amazing how you can be in class for only two days, and suddenly, you're entire life seems extremely hectic, and nothing has actually started yet.

Thanks to all my wonderful reviewers! (And, to address an issue in one of my reviews, this story is NOT over and won't be for awhile, so no worries!)

* * *

**Last Call: Tucker**

* * *

Should he?

No, he shouldn't.

But then...

Yes, he should.

But what if...?

Tucker sighed. He had lost count of how many times he had sighed in Lancer's class that day. All night, he'd thought about the phone call from Star. It had been so unexpected; he had never thought she would apologize for being a jerk to him back in ninth grade. He had really appreciated her honesty. But then she'd had to say that she had made the call because someone else had called her and that she, in turn, had wanted to tell him something that only she knew. That way, if she were suddenly found dead, he'd know that one little bit of information—one little part of Star's world that only he would know about. That small piece of her thinking would live on in him.

Tucker sighed again. Those thoughts were the ones that had plagued his mind all night. What if he were suddenly gone? What small part of his mind would he want to leave behind for one special person to know? Who would he trust with his last words? And what would his last words be?

The answer had come quickly, but Tucker didn't have the nerve to make the call like Star had. Star's confession had been more-or-less trivial: nothing between them had really changed. Some back waters had been cleared, but nothing going on in the present-day would be affected too much.

But Tucker's confession...his confession would change _everything_, for everybody he considered a close friend. He wasn't sure he wanted everything to change.

Well, maybe things wouldn't be too bad. Only one person would know the truth that he had been harboring since his sophomore year—he could remember the exact day that had changed his mind for good—and since only one person would know, he could ask that person to keep everything a secret, right?

The problem was...that one person was the very person he wasn't sure he wanted to spill his guts to.

Tucker sighed...again. He wasn't one to get nervous. He was Tucker Foley! TF, as in, too fine! He didn't like feeling nervous; he liked being confident. But, the older he got, the more he realized that he tended to use over-confidence in situations when he wasn't comfortable being honest or cut-and-dry.

Besides...what about Danny? What if Danny found out? Tucker was sure Danny would hate him—okay, maybe not hate him, but not like him for a while.

These thoughts had chased circles around his mind all night, and they had not disappeared this morning. He was almost ready to figure out a way to give a computer the ability to make thoughts disappear from people's minds. Figuring that out probably wouldn't be hard...nah, it'd be simple. First, he'd—

"Ow," he whispered. He looked to his right to see Sam staring at him. He shot her a questioning look, and she pointed to the floor in between their desks, to the wadded up piece of paper she had apparently thrown at him. Tucker glanced up to make sure Lancer's nose was still stuck in the book before reaching down to pick up the wad.

He quietly uncurled the paper and read it.

_Why have you been staring at the back of Danny's head for like...fifteen minutes? It's starting to creep me out. _

Tucker opened his mouth as if he were going to reply, but quickly shut it. He smirked a bit. He hadn't even realized that he'd been staring at Danny, which was, like Sam said, slightly creepy. Tucker looked back at Sam and shrugged, but quickly frowned and pointed to the seat in front of Sam.

Sam glanced at the now-empty seat, then looked back at Tucker and pointed toward the floor. Tucker nodded, understanding what she meant. Lately, Danny had taken to slipping out of class unnoticed so as to not draw as much attention to himself and to keep down the distraction of him leaving and interrupting class (which the teachers were all grateful for).

"Mr. Fenton, would you please read—"

Lancer stopped mid-sentence, upon noticing that the boy-in-question was no longer in the room. Tucker glanced up at the man, and, because of Lancer's abrupt silence, the entire class turned to look toward the back corner of the room. Not three seconds later, Danny Phantom flew through the window intangibly and hit the wall on the other side of the room. He slid to the floor with his eyes closed, rubbing his back, and muttering. "Stupid ghost. It just had to be a snake. I hate snakes!"

As soon as he opened his eyes and realized where he was, his eyes went wide and his mouth opened slightly. "Um..." He looked around the room, taking note that everyone was staring at him, including Lancer. "Whatever it is you just asked for me to do, can it wait, like, two minutes? Five tops."

A loud hissing sound came from outside the classroom, and Tucker jerked his head around to see a giant green snake with beady red eyes and a forked tongue sticking out of its mouth. Danny jumped up, flying toward the window.

"Hey, ugly, bet ya can't catch me!" Right as he neared the window, he made a turn for the roof and a second later, he was gone. The snake followed its prey with its eyes and shot toward the sky as soon as it realized the prey was trying to escape.

Lancer cleared his throat to attempt to regain the attention of his students, who were all still staring out the window. "Very well...Mikey, would you please read the next paragraph?"

Tucker was astounded by how easily the class had resumed to normal. Their reaction proved how desensitized they were to ghost attacks. Also, Tucker was glad they hadn't all crowded around Danny...or the window, for that matter. He laughed softly and thought, _ just another day at Casper High_.

Honestly, Tucker was amazed by the reaction Danny had received after starting his junior year. Besides the few crazies who pestered him with questions, not too many people constantly surrounded him. The new year almost felt like any other new year. Tucker figured the summer between Danny blowing his secret and school starting back had been able to deter people from bombarding him. Instead, Danny had dealt with his classmates at different times and places all throughout the summer. Of course, Tucker and Sam had began to not want to hang at the mall with him anymore, but they suffered for their friend's sake every now and then.

Right before the bell rang, Danny reappeared in his chair. He turned and smiled at Tucker and Sam. "Wow, I managed to make it back before the bell."

"Catch the stupid snake?" Tucker asked. Danny faked being hurt.

"You would doubt _me_?"

Tucker rolled his eyes. The three began walking toward the door.

"Oh, Sam, I forgot to tell you..." Danny groaned and put a hand to his face. "I have to spend lunch in the guidance counselor's office. She wants to talk to me about finding a good career path or something."

"Awh, poor Danny having to spend time making real-life decisions," Sam playfully mocked.

"And fighting ghosts isn't a real-life decision?" He joked back. Tucker snorted.

Sam shrugged. "It's not the one that's gonna bring home the bacon. Besides, life is short. Make the most of every opportunity, right? You never know when your last five minutes of life will be." With that said, Sam turned to walk to the cafeteria.

Tucker noticed a more serious expression cross over Danny's face as he watched his girlfriend walk off, but he quickly shook his head. "See ya, Tuck."

Tucker and Danny split ways, and Tucker's breathing began to speed up. _"You never know when your last five minutes of life will be." _Tucker was amazed that she had voiced the very things he had been thinking about during class. Hearing someone say those words out loud made his thoughts seem all the more real and relevant.

Tucker, for the second day in a row, did not look over his agenda for the day ahead. Instead, as he reached his car, he pulled out his phone so he could, hypothetically, give away his last words.

* * *

As soon as she saw the caller ID, she was worried. She hurriedly stashed her books and papers in her book bag and rushed out of the library. She was planning on driving home this weekend anyway, but, depending on this call, she may have to head out before her last class today.

As soon as she stepped outside, she answered the phone. "What's wrong? Is Danny okay? Where is he?"

A confused Tucker answered her. "What?"

She was already unlocking her car. "Tucker! If Danny got you to call me, the situation must be bad. What's going on?"

A second of silence passed, and she was about to tear the boy to shreds if he didn't answer. "Oh!" he finally replied. "No, this doesn't have anything to do with ghosts, Jazz. Danny doesn't even know I'm calling you."

Jazz raised an eyebrow, stopped moving at hyper-speed, and leaned against her car. "Okay, then what's up? I've never gotten a call from you that wasn't ghost-related."

"Oh, um, well I've got something that I need to tell you, but I kinda want to explain myself first."  
Jazz shook her head but decided to tune in. "Alright."

"Ok, see, I got this call, right? Someone wanted to tell me what they would say if they only had five minutes to live...like giving away her last words to me," Tucker explained.

Jazz bit her lip, trying to understand where Tucker was going with this. "And...what does this have to do with me?"

"Well, I decided that I wanted to continue what she started. So I'm going to give the hypothetical last minutes of my life to you."

"Oh, wow, Tucker," Jazz began, not knowing what to say. "That's...thoughtful." Jazz was slightly worried; Tucker seemed nervous.

"Okay, so let's pretend I just called you, alright?" He paused. "Hey, Jazz! What's up?"

Jazz rolled her eyes but decided to play Tucker's game. "Not much, what about you?"

"Well, ya see, I've sorta wanted to tell you this for a while...actually, I can remember the exact day I decided I wanted to tell you this. But...it was sorta weird at first, so I convinced myself that I shouldn't tell you, so I just tried not to think about it for awhile, but that wasn't working either, so I figured I should probably tell you, but don't freak out or anything, okay? I mean, I guess you can freak out once we hang up, but please don't freak out on me...or laugh...or not say anything...or—"

"TUCKER!" Jazz exclaimed, effectively cutting off the boy's babbling. "Just spit it out already!"

"Okay." He paused once more, and Jazz was almost sure she heard him take a huge breath. "IthinkI'minlikewithyou."

"Huh?" Jazz asked. She hadn't understood a word he'd said.

Slowly, Tucker repeated himself. "I think I'm in like with you."

Jazz was taken back. "In...like?"

"Yeah, like a step below love. As in, I like you, Jazz, as more than a friend."

The time had come for Jazz to be silent. Her brother's best friend had a _crush _on her? She was shocked; how could this have happened? Tucker Foley had always been like her second younger brother. Most of the time he was annoying, but he had his rare, shining moments.

Apparently, she had stayed quiet too long. "Yeah," Tucker slowly started. "I sort of thought you might not have anything to say, but I do. I know it's weird, and I sort of wish I could tell you in person, but you're like in a different state. And well—"

Jazz interrupted him. "I'm coming home tonight, for the weekend. We could catch a movie tomorrow, if you want."

Tucker was silent for half a second. "Seriously?" Jazz could hear the smile in his voice now. "That'd be great!"

Jazz laughed conspiratorially. "Chick flick?"

Tucker groaned slightly. "You can make me sit through it, but you can't make me like it."

Jazz giggled. "That's completely fine. See you tomorrow."

"Ok, see you—wait, don't tell Danny!"

Jazz frowned and was about to ask why, but she quickly realized the answer: guys weren't supposed to date their friend's sister. She was pretty sure there was some kind of guy code, but she wasn't intent on asking about it. "Okay, I won't. I'll meet you at the theater at seven?"

"Sounds cool!" Another beat of silence passed. "Bye, Jazz!"

Jazz laughed. "See ya."

* * *

**A/N:** Alright...before you review, give the idea a thought and keep in mind that they are NOT together or anything. It's a simple date. And remember, you'll get Jazz's POV next chapter, since she will have her turn to think about who to call. Also, keep in mind that Tucker has been pondering this for about a year now (as stated in the chapter), so this isn't some random thing that popped into his mind (which, I realize, is probably how it seems).

With those thoughts out of the way, I ask you to leave your thoughts in a review, pretty please, and I bid you a fond farewell until next chapter!

P.S. I haven't always liked the idea of TxJ (and I'm still not completely in love with it, because I like TxV a lot), but one awesome story changed my mind about TxJ. You should go read _Tutoring Tucker_, by IfThereWereWater. :)


	9. Jazz

**A/N**: Hello lovely people!

Alright, I changed the end of the last chapter slightly, and I really wish I would have had my thoughts up-to-date before I posted the last chapter; sadly, they were lagging behind. It's no drastic change at all...just a little fluff. But here it is, so you don't have to go back and re-read it:

_Tucker was silent for half a second. "Seriously?" Jazz could hear the smile in his voice now. "That'd be great!"_

_Jazz laughed conspiratorially. "Chick flick?"_

_Tucker groaned slightly. "You can make me sit through it, but you can't make me like it."_

_Jazz giggled. "That's completely fine. See you tomorrow."_

"_Ok, see you—wait, don't tell Danny!"_

See! No big change!

Onto Jazz's call! Thank you wonderful reviewers and readers! You make me happy! ^_^

Episode referenced in the beginning is _Frightmare_, the part right after Tucker defeats the sleepwalkers, but before Danny and Sam defeated Nocturne in his dream. I always figured Tucker and Jazz had to have talked during that time...but about what? :)

* * *

**Last Call: Jazz**

* * *

"_It's a uh..." Tucker started, pointed back at the mattress that had just broken his and Jazz's fall._

"_Mattress factory," Jazz finished, dryly._

_He laughed nervously. "Um, yeah." He stood up and held out a hand to help Jazz up as well. _

"_Thanks for catching me," Jazz told the boy. She looked around. "Okay...now what?" _

_Tucker sighed and pulled out his PDA. "Now...we wait, like always. I should have gotten rid of any sleepwalkers in Nocturne's dream, so it should just be a couple of minutes until those two defeat him and wake him up." He walked to the other side of the dream machine Nocturne was in, and Jazz followed him._

_Jazz looked at the younger boy strangely. "You sound...almost jealous." _

_Tucker's head snapped up. "Of Danny?" Jazz nodded. Tucker smiled and shook his head, returning his eyes to his hand-held. "No way. I got over that a long time ago. He saves the world, I do his tech-stuff, and Sam kicks butt with the ghost weapons." He smirked. "And, well, flirts with Danny, but I figure you know that."_

_Jazz laughed softly. "Those two are so perfect for each other."_

_Tucker was busily pecking away at his hand-held, but he grunted in agreement. "For real. Danny is so clueless to realize how Sam feels, and Sam is too proud to tell him." Jazz shook her head at her little brother's cluelessness. She thought it was sort of cute...kinda sweet. _

_Tucker laughed, and Jazz looked at him. He was looking at her with an amused expression on his face. "You think anyone ever talks about you like that?"_

_Jazz laughed loudly. "No way. I'm not as clueless as Danny." A moment of silence passed before she looked back at Tucker. "Why? Do they?"_

_Tucker grinned big and strained to hold in an obnoxious laugh. "No, not that I know of. But that's not what I meant. I didn't mean to sound like I was asking you. I was sort of asking myself."_

"_Yeah, I understand. It's natural to wonder if people talk about you the same way you talk about other people. I mean, everyone talks about how Danny and Sam should totally get together."_

_Tucker smirked and turned his attention back to his PDA. "Yeah, but the difference with them is that people don't just talk behind their back. They talk right in front of Danny and Sam's faces about their relationship that's supposedly not there and never going to happen...according to them, at least."_

_Jazz smiled. "True." She sighed wistfully. "I wonder if one day there will be anyone out there for me, and it'll be so obvious that we would be perfect together, but I'm the only one who won't realize it." Jazz had never been much into relationships. She'd had a few dates throughout her high school career, of course, but none that had continued into a dating relationship. She was about to graduate soon, though. So thoughts of a boyfriend rarely registered in her mind. _

"_Yeah..." Tucker mumbled. Jazz realized she didn't hear him tapping away anymore. She frowned and looked at him. His hand was still positioned over his PDA, but it wasn't moving anymore. He was staring at her with a strange expression on his face. She was about to say something, but he shook his head and opened his mouth. A smirk developed across his face, but he turned back to his PDA. "Jazz, real love isn't like what you watch in the movies, you know. It takes a lot more work than just randomly running into the 'right person' or whatever."_

_Jazz raised an eyebrow. "Umm...are_ you _lecturing _me _about love?"_

"_Yeah, what's the big deal?"_

_Jazz stared at him like he had just grown another head. "What's the big deal?" she mocked. "Mr. I-flirt-with-every-girl-who-walks-by?"_

_Tucker smiled wide. "Ahh, well men can change."_

_"Men, yes. You, I'm not so sure about," Jazz replied sarcastically. "Besides, how would you know anything about sappy chick-flick love movies? All you three ever watch are fighting and action movies with tons of explosions or gore."_

_Tucker groaned. "I've watched a couple with my mom on Mother's Day before. Ugh...those wretched things shouldn't have the right to be passed off as entertainment."_

_Jazz smirked. "Tucker, I'm making it my mission to force you to go to see a chick-flick sometime."_

_Tucker raised an eyebrow and glanced at her for a short second. "Fine. You can make me sit through it, but you can't make me like it."_

_Before Jazz could reply, the container Nocturne was in bust open, and the ghost fell out of it, along with Danny and Sam. Tucker stashed away his PDA and fumbled around for the Fenton Thermos for a couple of seconds while Danny and Nocturne exchanged words, and he finally was able to suck the starry ghost into the thermos._

"_Consider this your wake-up call!"  
_

Jazz grabbed her weekend bag from the backseat of her car and locked the door. She had spent half the car-ride home trying to figure out what day Tucker had decided he wanted to ask her out, and she felt silly for not realizing it sooner.

She opened the front door and was immediately engulfed by her father. Her muffled screams went unnoticed. Finally, he let her go. "Jazzypants! I'm so glad to see ya!"

Jazz straightened out her clothes and smiled at her dad. "Me too...but it's only been like a month." Her mother appeared from behind her dad. She received a much less suffocating hug from her.

"Silly girl," Maddie said after pulling back and looking at her only daughter. "A month is like ten years in parent-time." The three laughed and talked for a couple of minutes before Jazz said she wanted to put her stuff upstairs. Her parents let her go, giving her a warning that supper would be ready soon (and that Maddie was trying out a new ecto-plasmic recipe—lasagna).

Danny was standing at the top of the stairs when Jazz started walking up. She smiled. "Hey, little bro."

He groaned. "I thought you agreed to stop calling me that?"

Jazz smiled wider and rustled his hair as she passed him. "I never agreed to that, but I might..." Danny's eyes lit up. "...if you save the world again." Danny's hopeful looked vanished.

"Well, as long as your criteria isn't high or anything." Jazz laughed and made a bee-line for her door, but Danny stepped in front of her. It was his turn to smile. "Jazz, before you go in there, there's something you need to know."

Jazz raised an eyebrow. Danny turned the doorknob and slowly opened the door. Jazz was confused when she saw clothes scattered around the floor, but when the door was open wide enough for her to see who was sitting on the bed, she gasped. "Danielle?"

The girl in question looked up, and her face broke into a smile. "Jazz!" She sprung out of bed and ran to give the older girl a hug. "I didn't know you were coming home." She then got a worried expression on her face. "But wait...oh, I'm sorry about your room."

"No worries...as long as I can share for a couple of nights."

"No prob!" Suddenly, both her and Danny's ghost senses went off. "Please let me get this one, Danny!"

Danny looked from his cousin to the window and back, then sighed. "Fine, Dani, go ahead."

The girl shouted in glee before transforming and shooting off. Jazz shook her head and smiled. "You are so over-protective, Danny."

He was still watching the window. "I know, but that's a good thing."

"It really is," Jazz agreed. She stepped further into her room—well, Danielle's room now, it appeared—and set her stuff down. "So Mom finally came around? She's letting Dani live here?"

Danny looked at his big sister with a toothy grin. "Yeah. It was so sudden. Dani just showed up Wednesday, saying Mom had called her and told her she could come live with us. I have no idea what changed Mom's mind."

Jazz sat down on the bed. "That's so great...but strange. I wonder..."

"She won't talk about it," Danny interrupted. "She just says she changed her mind, and I'm not going to argue about it."

"Yeah, I wouldn't either." Danny walked over to the window, and Jazz looked out it as well. Dani was beating up the Box Ghost. Danny chuckled a bit.

"Oh, that reminds me...Mom and Dad want to have a family ghost hunting night tomorrow night." Danny shuddered. "So you may want to pretend you have plans or something."

"Actually, I do have plans." Jazz was slightly nervous. This conversation could quickly veer into dangerous territory...that is, if she intended to keep her secret date...well, a secret.

Danny looked hopeful. "Really? Can I tag along? Please? Sam got roped into something with her parents, and she can't get out of it."

"What? No, you can't come." Jazz was trying hard not to sound defensive or angry.

"Why not?" Danny asked.

Jazz struggled for a second to figure out exactly the right thing to say. "Because it's just me and my friend." There...that wasn't a lie.

Danny raised an eyebrow, and all traces of his wanting to come vanished. "Friend? As in, singular?"

Jazz stared at her little brother strangely. "Yes...as in yes?"

"Is your friend a guy?"

Jazz groaned. "Oh, Danny, not this again."

"You just said it was a good thing for me to be over-protective!" he exclaimed. His face showed worry, and while Jazz was flattered that he cared so much for her, at the moment, she had to do everything possible to make sure he didn't spy on her tomorrow night.

"Danny, that's great and all, but I plan to carry a ghost tracker and a Fenton Thermos tomorrow night, so I'll know if you follow me." The two continued a staring contest for a minute, neither willing to back down. Finally, Danny sighed.

"Fine," he grumbled. "I promise I won't follow you."

"Yeah, you'd better not," Jazz warned. She smirked. "I've gotten better with my aim."

Danny smiled back. "Jazz...you've never needed good aim to manage to capture me in that thermos."

Jazz frowned and threw a pillow at Danny's face. He easily dodged it, and the two shared a laugh. "So...what are you gonna do tomorrow night?"

"I dunno." He trailed off for a second, before he face lit up. "Oh, I could call Tuck! He's always bugging me about how we never have bro time anymore since Sam and I started dating." Danny flipped out his phone and punched in the number. "Don't know why I didn't think of that before."

Jazz opened her mouth to tell him that Tucker wasn't available for tomorrow night, but she shut it just as quickly. If she said that, she'd have to explain how she knew he was free, and she was sure Tucker wouldn't appreciate her spilling the beans.

"Hey man! So I was thinking about a movie night tomorrow night." Danny paused, waiting on Tucker's response. He began walking out the door. "What do you mean you're busy?" With that, Danny closed the door to Jazz's room, leaving the girl alone with her thoughts.

Jazz sighed and laid back in her bed. Tucker probably wouldn't tell Danny about the date before it happened. She trusted that he would come up with some excuse on why he was busy tomorrow night. But his excuse wasn't what she was thinking about.

What would tomorrow night be like? Jazz was hoping it wouldn't be awkward and that the atmosphere would feel natural...like they were just hanging out...without Danny and Sam. She didn't want Tucker to act all strange or weird, and she didn't want to act that way either.

Jazz had to wonder exactly how much Tucker liked her. She didn't want to hurt the poor guy, but she was sure she didn't like him as anything more than a friend. She wasn't sure she could ever like him as much more than a friend. Then again, she realized her feelings could change, but she wasn't sure she could handle thinking about that at the moment.

So instead, she basked in the great feeling she received from knowing that there was someone would be thinking of her—_her, _Jazz Fenton—during the last moments of his life. She felt important...needed. The feeling was an enjoyable and happy one, and Jazz had to wonder...could she make anyone feel like this?

Who could she call to confess something to—something they would never know if she didn't tell them? Who could she call and give this amazing feeling to?

Her parents? Her brother? Jazz thought for quite a while, trying to come up with something exciting or original she could tell her family, but she came up empty. Her family knew everything that was going on in her life (well, except for her impending date). She had nothing earth-shattering to tell them, nothing she hadn't already thanked them for a million times over, nothing original.

She had thanked her parents for allowing her to move off for college—after all, she had received a full-ride to Yale—and she had already thanked Danny for letting her really become part of his ghost-fighting team—she had actually had to fight off an errant ghost in her dormitory the week after she moved in.

So who could—?

Her thoughts stopped, then picked back up again, quicker than before. She had an idea of who to call...someone who had given her advice that had seemed so silly and stupid (especially considering who she was receiving it from). Jazz bit her lip and flipped open her cell phone, but she then realized that she did not have this man's number programmed into her phone.

But she did have—yes, that would work!

Jazz found the number she was looking for and quickly received the information she needed. Not three minutes later, she was dialing another number. She was nervous, but if she wanted someone to know that they were important to her, she had to go through with this call.

* * *

The phone had rung three times before he sighed angrily and folded his newspaper. Where was his wife? Or his daughter? They were usually the ones who picked up the home phone.

"Manson residence," he greeted, gracefully. There was no need to alert the caller to his less-than-happy attitude.

"Hi, Mr. Manson?" Jeremy thought the voice sounded familiar—where had he—? Ah, Danny's sister, Jazz.

"Hello, Jasmine," Jeremy answered. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, Mr. Manson. Actually, I sort of wanted to tell you something." Jeremy silenced a laugh. Of course she would want to tell him something. Why else would she call? Although, young Jasmine wanting to speak with him was strange. What could she possibly need to tell him?

"Go on," he urged. He was anxious to get back to his reading his newspaper. He was fascinated with the political mud-slinging that was being fired back-and-forth, alerting the less observant citizens that an election was only two months away now.

"Well, do you remember the advice you gave me, like, back in June?"

Jeremy frowned and thought back to June. He quickly remembered the small snippet of advice he had given to the upcoming college freshmen. "Yes, yes I do. What about it?"

He heard the girl laugh slightly. "If you couldn't tell, I didn't think it was going to make much of a difference, honestly. But I decided to give it a shot, and I have to say that I am amazed at how much change can add up. I counted it this morning, and, since June, I've collected twenty dollars." She paused for a second, and, while Jeremy was glad for Jazz, he couldn't figure out where she was going with this. "So, I guess I just wanted to say thanks. Thanks for giving me that advice, because if you hadn't, I would have missed the opportunity to gain or save that money." She paused again. "And, you know, it kinda made me realize that there are missed opportunities all around us everyday. I've keeping my eye open for those too."

Jeremy felt his heart warm. She was saying thank-you? Jeremy had thought nothing of the advice he had given the girl. For one, he assumed most people already collected change, as he did, and besides that, he had given tons of people the same advice. However, no one had ever thanked him for his words. He smiled, enjoying the feeling of knowing that his words had not fallen on deaf ears.

"Your very welcome, Jasmine. I'm glad you took my advice."

"Yeah, I was just thinking that I needed to pass that on to you. Someone called me and told me something they thought I needed to know, just in case they never got the chance to tell me again. And well, I thought the same thing, and I decided that you needed to know how much I appreciate and use your advice."

Jeremy was full-out grinning now. "Thank you, that really means a lot."

"Your—ah!" Jeremy jumped when he heard the scream from over the phone. He heard another girl's voice softly in the background.

"Sorry, I didn't know you were on the phone."

Jazz laughed. "Sorry about that Mr. Manson, but I think I'm going to have to let you go."

"Alright, Jasmine," Jeremy stated calmly, betraying his curiosity. "Goodbye."

* * *

**A/N**: So...I didn't come right out and tell you the advice Jeremy gave to Jazz, but I hinted around it pretty heavily. No worries though, because I intend to delve a little further into it next chapter. And, by the way, it's very simple, nothing outrageous. (I was thinking about having him give her some great advice on investing money, but I don't know enough about money myself to not seem stupid.) But...when thinking up this chapter, I was trying to figure out something good Jazz would need to call him for, and the best thing I came up with had to do with money, since, after all, he is a Manson.

In completely unrelated news, I have discovered Harry Potter. Okay, well discovered is the wrong word, but I just watched the first Harry Potter movie Monday night. :) Amazing, huh? I've gone my entire life without knowing anything about Harry Potter, except for the line "You're a wizard, Harry." Seriously...that was the extent of my knowledge. (I did learn from one of my more obsessed friends last semester that he has a scar on his forehead.) Oh, and I knew the bad guy's name. Other than that, I had no idea what Harry Potter was really about. So my friends all decided that I needed to be educated, haha. Second movie is tonight, and I must say, I'm very much looking forward to it.

Till next time! Please leave your thoughts!


	10. Jeremy Manson

**A/N**: Hello all! No chit chat this time (wow!) so let's get to moving!

I planned on updating this yesterday, but FanFiction was being difficult! So here it is, a couple hours late, but still here! Thanks to my extremely wonderful reviewers! And my patient readers!

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Apple...I don't even own an iPhone, or any kind of technology that starts with the letter i. And I'm not running for a political office, nor am I a part of the girl scouts (or attempting to advertise for them).

* * *

**Last Call: Jeremy Manson**

* * *

A loud, beeping noise filled Jeremy's ears. He yawned, opened his eyes, and turned off his alarm clock. He stretched before he jumped out of bed, ready to make the most of the day ahead of him. After a quick shower, Jeremy kissed good morning to his wife and gleefully walked down the stairs, whistling to himself. Ah...how he loved being a morning person.

He grabbed a cup of coffee and sat down at the kitchen table. Continuing in his morning routine, he unfolded the paper and began devouring the news. Though monotonous, Jeremy's life was never boring to him. He rather enjoyed the hum-drum of daily living. He had a wonderful wife, a nice house, a boastful income...

"_Why _do you insist on making my life _**HORRIBLE**__! ?_"

Jeremy sighed. And a rebellious teenage daughter to give his life just enough drama to make sure he kept his feet on the ground. Honestly, he couldn't expect every single detail of his life to be perfect.

Jeremy figured his wife would need back-up in the argument, so he left his newspaper and coffee in the kitchen long enough to walk upstairs and assess whatever it was that Sam had done to anger Pamela...this time.

Once upstairs, Jeremy saw that Pamela was standing at the entrance to Samantha's room, which was still dark.

"Sammyikns, don't argue. You know what today is!" Pamela chirped.

Jeremy stepped in at that moment, and he and his wife sang together. "The Annual Who's Who Ball!" Sam rolled her eyes and covered her head with her blanket.

"C'mon, Sam!" Jeremy walked into his daughter's room and pulled back the blinds, letting warm rays of sunshine bathe the floor and walls of the dark, gloomy room. Smiling, Jeremy turned around to see that Pam had already made her way over to Sam's bed. Sam was cringing under the covers, hiding from the penetrating light.

"MOM! That stupid ball isn't even until to_night_. _Why _are you waking me up _now_? It's gotta be like six o'clock or something." His daughter groaned into her pillow.

Jeremy laughed. "You know we like to sleep in on Saturday's, Sam."

"Your father's right, you know. It's actually seven," Pamela amended.

Finally, Sam threw the covers away from her face so she could give her parents a death glare. "Our ideas of sleeping in are waaaaay different, just saying."

"Sammy, get up, dear. We have tons to do to get ready for the ball tonight!" Pamela stood up and walked to their daughter's closet. She stepped out with a frilly pink and yellow dress, filled with bows and ribbons and sparkles. Jeremy knew what was coming next.

"UGH! No _way _am I wearing _that_!"

"Samantha, your mother and I only want you to look presentable at the ball tonight."

Sam glowered at the dress for a long minute, but her eyes brightened and she leaped out of bed. "Sam, what are—"

"Shh!" Sam yelled, diving into her closet. "Hold on." Pamela and Jeremy glanced at each other worriedly. What could Sam be doing now? They got their answer when Sam reappeared, holding two dresses. "Okay, here's the deal. I'm not going to wear that hideous dress you picked out for me mom."

"But—!"

"No, it's not gonna happen," Sam interrupted. She smirked. "I like this one more." Sam held up the dress that was in her right hand. The bodice was blood red and laced up the front, and the sleeves were made of black lace with intricate flower decorations. The skirt was short and black, adorned with black beads and flowers. Pamela gasped, horrified at Sam's selection. Quickly, Sam held up the dress in her left hand. This dress was much simpler; it was a complete black, floor-length, halter-top dress. "But...I like this one more, if you guys will let me bring Danny tonight."

Jeremy glanced at his wife, who had her hand to her mouth, staring at the dresses Sam had chosen. Sam smiled. "It's your choice. I'm not wearing that atrocious pile of garbage you picked out, but I'll let you pick which of these two dresses you want me to wear."

Pamela met Jeremy's look, and they shared a nod. "You can invite the Fenton boy, as long as you wear the more modest dress," Pamela instructed.

Sam smiled and tilted her head to the side. "See, now don't you wish you would have just let me invite him the first place?" Pamela glared darkly at her daughter, but she gathered the frilly dress in her arms and marched toward the door.

"Just please...don't let any ghostly business ruin our evening."

Sam shrugged and studied the dress she would now be wearing to the ball tonight. "No promises." Jeremy put a hand on his wife's shoulders and pushed her the rest of the way out of Samantha's room.

Pamela sighed and put a hand to her forehead. "Jeremy, _what _are we going to do with her?" Jeremy removed the worried hand from Pamela's forehead and kissed her gently.

"I don't think there's much more we can do, sugar. Let's try and be happy she won't be dressed like the living dead, tonight." Pamela smiled wryly and nodded. She looked down at the dress in her arms.

"I suppose I should take this back. Such a shame...after I got it for such a bargain! Only a couple hundred bucks!" Pamela dashed back into her room, and Jeremy decided to finish his morning routine of coffee and news.

As he was walking down the stairs, he stopped and held a hand to his head. He closed his eyes, and he began seeing familiar images. Suddenly, his dream from the night before came spilling back into his mind.

_Jeremy and Pamela Manson walked angrily to the door of the Fenton's household. The two had wanted to attempt to have a _civil _conversation with the parents of their daughter's boyfriend, but, as was expected, the conversation had turned very sour, very quickly. _

"_And you're not welcome back into this house without an invitation!" Maddie exclaimed, following the two fuming parents to the door. "And I wouldn't hold my breath for that, by the way." Suddenly, Maddie's face brightened, and she sweetly added, "Or do. I think it'd be rather hilarious to watch!" The woman opened the door and Jeremy grabbed his wife and pushed her out the door before rushing out himself. _

_He turned around and held a finger in the air. "You haven't heard the last from—" The door slammed in his face. _

_"Oh, the _nerve _of that woman!" Pamela exclaimed. "She is such a horrible person, and she dresses terribly!" The angry mother stormed toward the car. Jeremy was still staring at the door, willing it to open itself. It never did, of course, but Jeremy was fed up with the Fentons, and he wanted another chance to yell at them. _

"_Excuse me." Jeremy turned around to see Danny's older sister—Jasmine was her name. Her looked mirrored that of her mothers, except the harsh glare was slightly milder—but only slightly. "I said excuse me. I really need inside...tons of packing and preparing to do. I'm moving to a different state in a month, so if—" _

_Jeremy then remembered that this girl was the only sane member of this family. And she was about to move off? On her own? To college, no doubt, but still...Jeremy took compassion on the teenager. He stepped out of the way and watched as she began searching for her key._

"_What college are you off to, Jasmine?" he asked, conversationally. _

_Jasmine stopped fidgeting with her keys and sent the man a side-ways glance. "Yale," she answered quickly. _

_Jeremy nodded, and Jasmine turned back to the keys in her hand. Having found the right one, she stuck the key in the lock. Jeremy continued talking. "Full-ride, I assume?"_

_Jasmine turned fully to face the man this time. "Yes, sir." Jeremy could tell the young girl was irritated by the conversation, but Jeremy wanted to push on._

_"Well, don't let that make you think that you don't have to fork out any money off your own—"_

_"Mr. Manson, will all due respect, I think I realize that life is going to cost money. I've been saving since I was a toddler." Jasmine impatiently tapped her foot against the ground. _

_"Yes, well, I would expect no less from you, the smartest of your family." Jeremy noticed the girl's hard expression soften slightly at that. "But I would like to offer you a piece of advice. Don't over-look the small things, Jasmine. Even pennies add up eventually."_

_She raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"_

_Jeremy put a hand on the girl's shoulder. "It's called free money, Jazz. Every time you see a coin lying on the ground, pick it up; don't leave it for someone else to nab. You have just as much right to it as they do. Get a jar and start collecting loose change. Change you collect from the ground, change from your purchases. Don't spend the change, save it. You'll be amazed how quickly it adds up."_

_Jasmine's face scrunched up—whether in confusion or disdain, Jeremy could not tell. He leaned away from her and started to descend the stairs. "Think about it."_

Jeremy shook his head and continued walking down the stairs. He didn't have to guess why he had dreamed about his meeting with Jasmine that day; after all, the girl had just called him last night to thank him for the advice he'd given her.

Sitting back down at the table, Jeremy took a sip of his now luke-warm coffee. He didn't pick the newspaper back up, though. _She actually had a good enough heart that she thought she needed to call me to tell me how much she appreciated my advice_, Jeremy thought. He sat back in his chair, thoughtfully.

He pursed his lips. Being kind-hearted was a good quality to have, and Jeremy had to wonder sometimes if he were really kind-hearted. How often did he put another person's feelings above his own? He thought about it for a long minute but came up with no answer. Sighing, he accepted his failure and picked his newspaper back up. There wasn't much he could do to change now that he was in his forties. He'd lived half his life already. Why bother to change so late in life?

The news contained an article about a murderer that was set to be executed soon, an ad insisting he buy the latest iPhone, and a cute story about how the Girl Scouts in the area were beginning to sell their cookies in the coming weeks.

Jeremy crumpled up the paper and threw it against the wall. Who was he kidding? He wanted to change, and he wanted to change now. And he knew exactly where he needed to begin.

He was going to call someone, and he was going to tell that someone thanks for something he never thought he'd need. After all, wasn't that what young Jasmine had done for him? She had admitted that, before she put the advice to good use, she had thought it was silly. That was the exact feeling Jeremy had had before he had used what this someone had given him.

And now he needed to set things straight.

* * *

"...will bring life to this apparently lifeless glob of ectoplasm and—gnah!" He screamed when the phone interrupted his narration...and just when he was getting to the good part! He shook his head to clear his thoughts and picked up the phone. Usually, he didn't bring the phone downstairs with him, but the rest of the family was gone somewhere, so his wife had instructed him to carry the phone close by him at all times.

"Fenton residence!" he exclaimed. "If...um..." he paused. Maddie had told him the most efficient way to answer the telephone, but he had forgotten. There was just so many words to remember! So, he settled on a much less elegant manner. "Jack Fenton speaking! Would you like to talk about ghosts?"

"Hi, Jack, it's Jeremy Manson."

Jack narrowed his eyes, his full attention now on the telephone. "You. What do you want _now_ ?"

"Look, I realize there's probably no reason for you to listen to me, but I have something important I'd like to tell you." The man paused, leaving Jack to wonder what was up. "Remember giving me those ghost hunting weapons a few months ago...back in May?"

Jack thought back...wow, that was a long time ago. Why would he remember—?

Oh yeah!

Now he remembered. Danny had told Jack and Maddie that one reason he hadn't told them his secret identity was because his ghostly enemies liked to attack his family and friends. He had wanted to keep them in the dark and hopefully, safer as well. Danny told them about how Sam and Tucker were targets of ghost attacks often and that they were more than prepared to take on a ghost—at least long enough for Danny to show up.

So Jack had soon realized that if Sam and Tucker were attacked, then their parents could be easily targeted as well. His solution? Arm their parents with ghost weapons. _Never can be too careful_, Jack thought.

"Yeah!" Jack answered, grinning happily. "They've come in handy haven't they? Real work of art...made 'um myself, you know." Well, that wasn't completely true—Maddie had worked hard on them as well.

Jeremy sighed. "Well, honestly Jack, when you first gave them to me, I hated them and thought they were useless."

Jack's spirit immediately wilted. How could someone not like ghost weapons? They were the coolest things since...well, since ghosts themselves!

"But," Jeremy began, causing Jack to perk up. "I've come to realize that they are necessary and that you were right. On quite a number of occasions, ghosts have shown up at the house when Samantha wasn't even here. Even though we really don't want her ghost hunting, we aren't idiotic enough to believe that we are, in any way, more apt to fight ghosts than she is, since she's had years more practice than us. So, I would like to thank you, Jack, for thinking of us enough to give us these weapons, and I thought you'd like to know that they've been put to good use a good number of times. I honestly don't know what we would've done without them. And well—uh, well never mind. Just know that we appreciate them."

Working through the long sentences as quickly as he could, Jack finally responded, "No prob! I knew they'd come in handy. Ghost weapons always do."

Jeremy chucked quietly. "I suppose, if you say so. Well, I just wanted to let you know how I felt; after all, you would've never known if I hadn't told you, and I probably wouldn't be able to live with myself if I hadn't had the chance to pass this on to you."

Jack smiled, pleased with himself. "Thanks, man! Hey, I'll send some more over, soon, okay? We're working on some newer designs that are easier to handle."

"Um..." Jeremy sighed, but it quickly turned into a laugh. "Sure, we'll be happy to receive them."

"Groovy! Well, I've got to go. I'm working on something new now! Bye!"

Without waiting for a response, Jack hung up the phone and devoted all his attention back on his experiment.

* * *

**A/N**: So, although I didn't plan it this way, Pamela and Jeremy called Maddie and Jack, respectively. Huh...interesting? I suppose so.

So...thoughts please! You know they excite me!


	11. Jack

**A/N**: *runs around like chicken with head cut off* Last week was busy! That's what I get for signing up to do Step Sing. Practice all the time and squeeze in homework when possible. That leaves no time for writing FanFiction. Our group did win first place in the co-ed division though…go Honors Program nerds! :D

So anyway, I'm dreadfully sorry to keep you all waiting for so long! :( I like updating at least once a week, but last week I was busy with Step Sing, and the beginning of this week was full of torturous schoolwork. I have no excuses for why I didn't finish this the last half of the week, except that I kept getting distracted. So sorry...but enjoy!

Thanks for reviewing guys! And as a note for all future chapters, this story is not over until I say so. When it's done, I'll write something about it in my **A/N**. So no worries!

* * *

**Last Call: Jack**

* * *

Jack intently studied the papers in his hand and mindlessly picked up another piece of fudge. For the last three months, he and Maddie had been consumed with the amount of new information they had gotten from Danny—all with his permission, of course. Jack was amazed by the fact that a half-human, half-ghost could exist, and he was elated at all the new facts he'd learned recently. There seemed to be a never-ending flow of new information to devour.

"Dad?" Jack jumped when he heard Danny's voice. He looked up to find his son staring bemusedly at him. "Get lost in science again?" Danny laughed and made his way to the fridge to dig around for food.

"It's a big deal, son. One day when you raise your family to hunt and research ghosts, you'll understand." Jack didn't catch Danny's eye roll and continued talking. "Oh, are you ready for tonight's family ghost hunting trip?"

Danny backed out of the fridge. Jack was looking at him expectantly. "Um, well, Dad, Sam kinda just called and invited me to this dance thing that her parents are dragging her to." Jack's happy face fell. Danny quickly added, "And you know, how would you feel if you had to spend an entire night by yourself with those two?"

Jack rubbed his chin, thoughtfully. "Hmm...good point. Good boy, Danny. You're saving Sam from ultimate embarrassment and humiliation. I'm sure glad your mother and I never embarrass you and Jazz." Jack turned back down to his notes, again missing Danny's eye roll.

At that point, Jazz walked in the kitchen. "What's this about embarrassment?" she asked as she grabbed a glass of orange juice and sat down at the table. She tilted the glass back to take a drink.

"I was just saying how glad I am that your mother and I never embarrass you or Danny." Jazz suddenly pulled the glass away from her mouth and spat orange juice across the room. She started coughing uncontrollably. Jack hopped up, and Danny bolted to her side instantly, but she held up a hand.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." She coughed again and received two uncertain stares from her family members. She smiled. "I'm fine." Then she started laughing, and she wiped juice off her mouth. She stood up to get a towel to start cleaning up the mess. "Yeah, Dad...I sure am glad _you're _not embarrassing."

Jack beamed with pride at his daughter's statement. "Tonight's family ghost hunting night! You ready for it? Danny said he couldn't come, but it can still be fun with just the three of us."

Jazz stopped mopping up the juice on the floor and looked up at her dad. She cast an evil glare at Danny, who smiled and shrugged, before she looked back at Jack. "Actually, Dad, I've made plans for tonight. I'm going out with a friend. But...you know, you and mom can have some fun by yourselves. I mean, with Danny out of the picture, you're bound to find a few ghosts to beat up tonight. And you two deserve quality time alone together."

Jack thought about his daughter's words. He and Maddie had really wanted to spend some time with her this weekend, since they hadn't seen her in a month. He smiled, coming up with a solution. "I know! We can just go ghost hunting again tomorrow afternoon. So make sure you're both free!"

Danny and Jazz looked at each other and managed to suppress a groan.

"So where are you going tonight, Jazzypants?" Jack asked as he picked up another piece of fudge and flipped to the next page of his notes.

"Out to the movies with a friend. Nothing huge, but I promised I'd go." Danny was staring at Jazz with an intense expression.

Jack paused, looking between his kids. He raised an eyebrow. "Something wrong?"

Jazz answered. "No, of course not. Why would anything be wrong, right Danny?" Danny nodded and turned back to his food, which he had sat on the counter before rushing over to help Jazz with her coughing fit earlier. "I thought you said Tucker was busy tonight, Danny."

"Oh, he is. Although he wouldn't tell me with what." Danny paused to pick up his snack and started to walk out of the kitchen. "It's probably family stuff; he doesn't like to tell me when he has to blow me off 'cause his mom wants him to clean his room or something."

Jack was only paying half attention to Danny and Jazz's conversation, and he wasn't really paying attention to his notes anymore either. He was thinking back to the conversation he'd had with his wife earlier that morning, after Jeremy had called him.

_Jack walked up the stairs and out of the lab, after his experiment had failed. His mind was working, trying to figure out where he had gone wrong, but he was interrupted by the front door opening. Maddie walked in with a hand full of grocery bags. She smiled at Jack. _

"_How about something quick tonight? Ecto-hot dogs, I was thinking."_

_Jack smiled. "Sounds great!" He hugged his wife. "You'll never guess who called me earlier."_

_Maddie was distracted by the bags as she replied. "Who?"_

_"Jeremy Manson." Maddie stopped walking toward the kitchen and turned to look at Jack. _

_"What? What did he want?" Maddie asked sourly. She continued on her course, sat the bags down on the table, and focused all her attention on Jack. "What did he complain about this time?"_

_Jack smiled when he answered. "Nothing." Noting his wife's skeptical look, Jack continued. "He called to thank me for giving him those ghost weapons a few months ago. Remember that?"_

_Maddie frowned. "Yeah, I do."_

_Jack laughed. "And you said I shouldn't bother."_

_Maddie was still staring at him with an odd expression. "You know, Pamela called me earlier in the week...Tuesday, I think. She thanked me for letting Danny and Sam still be friends, even after how horrible she and Jeremy treat us sometimes."_

_Jack scratched his chin. "Well, that's odd. Jeremy made it seem random...he said that he would just want me to know how much he appreciated the weapons and that if he hadn't told me, I would have never found out."_

_"Hmm...Pamela told me the same thing, though not in the same words. Maybe they just wanted to clear the water with us a little bit." _

_"Maybe so." Maddie began digging around in the bags and setting things out on the table, but Jack's face brightened. "Wait. Is that why you up and decided to call Danielle and let her stay here?"_

_Maddie blushed slightly. "Well, that's part of the reason, yes. I suppose it was the straw that broke the camel's back. If Pamela Manson can say something nice to me, I can manage to say something nice to someone else."_

Jack was now completely confused as to what he was reading in his notes. He sighed and flipped the stack of papers back to the beginning. He would pick that up later. He looked around and noticed that Jazz had left the kitchen as well now, so he was all alone.

Maddie's idea of passing along the nice words to someone else was a good idea, and he liked the idea Jeremy had about telling him something he would've never found out any other way. But who want to hear from Jack? Or better yet, what would he have to tell anyone that they would want to hear?

His first instinct was to think about something he needed to thank someone for. After all, that's what Jeremy had done, right? Jack brainstormed for a couple of minutes but came up short. He then remembered that Maddie had called Danielle to apologize for something. His mind wandered down that path for a couple of minutes as well and again, came up short.

He knew that people considered him to be slightly clumsy, so he had sort of been hoping that he would think of something he needed to apologize for. He shrugged and picked up another piece of fudge. Maybe he could think better if he went down to the lab. All of his best ideas came to him while he was down there.

On the way from the kitchen to the lab, Jack passed through the living room, where Maddie was talking with Danny.

"Yeah, the rumor around school is that he won't be able to play in any games until at least October. I dunno—serves him right."

"Danny!" Maddie scolded, flicking him on the head, but maintaining a soft smirk on her face.

Danny was smiling when he responded. "Well, it does! Even if he doesn't give me trouble anymore, he's still a jerk."

As soon as Jack stepped foot in the lab, he allowed those words to sink in. Of course! He rushed down the stairs to find the phone, which he still hadn't returned to its proper spot since this morning.

He had someone he needed to apologize to.

* * *

The phone rang, but he didn't move to get it. Even if he had wanted to get the phone, his dad wouldn't have let him get out of bed anyway. Besides, he never got calls on the home phone.

Therefore, when his dad knocked on his door, he was confused.

"Phone's for you." He caught the phone after his dad threw it at him.

"Hello?"

"Hi, is this Dash?"

Dash frowned at the familiar voice—the voice of Danny Fenton's dad. Why was this buffoon calling him, especially after what he'd done to Dash? "Yeah." He just wanted to get off the phone as quickly as possible.

"Hey, this is Jack, Danny's dad. Look, you probably don't wanna talk to me, so I'll cut to the chase. I wanted to say sorry for giving you that concussion last week. Danny's told us about how you've had to miss school this week and that you won't be able to play in any football games until half-way through the season, so I just wanted to say sorry. I know I can act a little rashly sometimes, and I'm sorry for seriously injuring you."

Dash was silent for a moment. The buffoon had apologized to him? Dash was unaware that the high-risk Fenton even knew that he often caused mass chaos. Even so, Dash liked the fact that he had taken the time to apologize. After all, this was his junior year, and he needed all the practice and game-time he could get if he wanted to get a football scholarship next year (which was the only kind of scholarship Dash knew he could get), but because of the concussion, Dash hadn't been able to go back to school this week, let alone play in the first football game of the season last night.

"Wow, Mr. Fenton. Thanks. That was sort of unexpected."

"I know, I know. But I felt bad, and I felt like I needed to apologize 'cause see, someone called me and passed along some nice words to me, so I felt like I needed to pass along some nice words to someone else. And since I totally ruined the first half of your junior football season, I figured I should apologize for that, since you'd never know how sorry I was about it. So...sorry, again."

Dash was unsure if that last statement was supposed to make him feel better or not, but he decided that Mr. Fenton had meant it to be sincere. "Uhh...thanks. I appreciate it."

"Well, I'm not gonna waste anymore of your precious teenage time, so adios! Get better soon!"

Before Dash had a chance to respond, Jack hung up.

* * *

**A/N: **Whew...and we're that much closer to the end. Who will Dash call? You may be surprised (nah, you will be surprised), so stick around to find out! Hopefully, I won't take as long on my next update...but no promises. Just know that it will come. I promise I won't abandon this baby!

Considering I posted the first part of this story like two years ago, I feel like I should point out the fact that everything that has happened in this story so far has happened within a week. Although I haven't actually said as much, I've carefully placed hints of that all throughout the story (after I got my thoughts organized and outlined, at least; in other words, after chapter five). But I felt like I needed to specify the timeline here, because Maddie made a reference to when Pamela called her, which, in real life, has been like a year ago. However, in the story, as it says, it's only been four days.

Lemmie know your thoughts!


	12. Dash

**A/N: **Character development warning! Or rather, assumed character development warning. Eh...I'm not proud of that, but I do believe some character development can be assumed. I really really like this chapter...MUCH more than I thought I was going to.

With that said, please enjoy! Thanks to all my reviewers and readers! You are amazing!

**Dislaimer: **Ummm...I don't own anything in the NFL, although I am a Greenbay Packers fan. And I trust that all you Danny Phantom Phans can figure out why. ;)

* * *

**Last Call: Dash**

* * *

"_Remember kids, ghosts are dangerous. They could appear at any time. So you must always be on alert, and ready to fight!" Jack thrust his huge ecto-gun in the air to emphasize his point to the small group of students gathered in the hallway of Casper High._

_Maddie echoed her husband's words. "Keep an eye out. Just because they helped us save our planet doesn't mean they won't find you and attack you." _

_As the couple continued taking turns at telling the dangers of ghosts, Dash and his cronies rolled their eyes. If there were a prize for the group of teenagers who knew the most about how dangerous ghosts were, the students at Casper High would win, hands-down. But the Fentons seemed like they couldn't rest a second without telling someone about ghosts. _

_Dash stole a look at Fenton as his friends, who were standing a little ways off from the crowd. Fenton put his head in his hands. Dash didn't blame him—if he were related to those two, he'd be embarrassed too. _

"_Mr. and Mrs. Fenton!" _

_Lancer's voice caused Dash to return his attention to the crowd. Mr. Lancer was storming through the group of students, who were busy scattering to their classrooms. "You two have no authorization to be here. Even though I enjoy the thought of you making sure our students are educated in ghosts, you must go through the proper steps to schedule an assembly and..." _

_Dash tuned Mr. Lancer out. Zoning out of Laner's lectures was second nature to any Casper High student who had had the man for even only one class. Dash motioned to his friends, and they began walking to their next class. Right as they walked behind the Fentons, Jack's voice boomed. _

"_Absolutely! We understand!" Jack turned around quickly, with his gun outstretched, and whacked Dash smack in the head. He fell hard to the ground. _

The next thing Dash remembered after the first blow was waking up in the hospital with a horrible headache. He had apparently hit his head hard when he fell to the ground as well. The Fentons had come to the hospital to make sure he was alright, and his parents were there as well, but Dash's head had been hurting so bad that he didn't remember much about being in the hospital either.

The accident had happened last Friday, and the doctor had given instructions for Dash to not go back to school for a week and to take things easy around the house. His parents had interpreted those instructions to mean that Dash wasn't allowed out of bed for an entire week. As restful of a week Dash had had, he was about to go completely insane by being locked up in his room all week. Thankfully (and Dash had never imagined himself thinking this), he could go back to school tomorrow, and finally get some fresh air.

Dash rolled out of bed and stretched. He crossed his room and smiled up at the wall half full of his high school achievements—all sports, of course. Even as a freshman and sophomore, he'd made headlines and won awards. He was on track to be the star quarterback...every college in the area would be tossing the big bucks to get him to come play for them...and eventually, he'd play in the NFL and his life would be made...

A loud knock on his door caught his attention. By the time he'd turned to face the door, it was already standing open. His mom was looking at him worriedly.

"Sweetie! You're supposed to be in bed."

"Mom!" Dash exclaimed, a little louder than he had intended. "I'm going back to school tomorrow. I think it's okay if I stand up for a second."

Although she was clearly still worried, she regained her composure and moved aside. "Paulina's here to see you."

Paulina smiled as she came into Dash's line of vision. "Gracias, mam."

Mrs. Baxter closed the door behind Paulina, and Paulina sat down on Dash's bed. "What'cha doing?"

Dash turned back around to glance at his wall of accomplishments. "Admiring my awards."

Paulina smiled hugely. "You deserve every single one of them, you know."

Dash smirked. "I know." He sat down in his desk chair and rolled closer to Paulina. "So what's up?"

Paulina shrugged. "Just coming by to check up on you."

Dash raised an eyebrow at the girl. He leaned in and kissed her check. "As much as I'd love to believe that, this is the first time I've seen you since the accident...and that was over a week ago now."

Paulina smiled coyly. "Oh, well...I knew you were fine. A silly concussion couldn't keep you down for long."

"What do you want, Paulina?" Dash asked, taking a stab at being straightforward.

Paulina laughed. "You know me a little too well. Ok, well me and Star were talking on our double date Friday night after the game and—"

"Wait...you went out on a date, Friday?" Dash interrupted.

Paulina cocked her head, confused. "Yeah, you knew about it. We were going to go out together, but then you got hurt and I couldn't leave Star and Kwan hanging."

Dash's mouth was hanging slightly open. "So...since I was hurt and not able to make the game or the date, you just...found another guy to go with?"

Paulina raised an eyebrow, apparently trying to figure out why Dash was getting so mad. "Yes, of course. I couldn't let my Friday night go to waste."

Dash stood up and turned away from Paulina, mumbling, "I bet you didn't get a date with who you wanted."

"Ex_cuse _me? _What _did you say?"

Dash turned around to find that Paulina was standing up now too. He growled at her. "You heard me. You didn't get a date with who you wanted, did you?" Dash was trying hard not to let out all his anger on her, but he wasn't exactly sure he wanted to cool down. He had been holding in these emotions ever since Fenton had revealed the truth to everyone. He had managed to avoid Fenton all summer, and even now that school had started back, Dash had only sent cold glares to Fenton while Paulina admired him from afar.

He had always looked up to Phantom, and he had never gotten too carried away with jealously because...well, Phantom was Phantom! Even he knew Paulina would never actually get a real shot at dating the guy. But now...now that Phantom was just Danny Fenton, and the only thing standing in the way of Paulina completely leaving Dash was Sam Manson (who was, by the way, pretty scary), Dash couldn't help but be a little worried and jealous.

Especially since he was starting to think he liked Paulina a lot more than he had originally intended to.

Paulina laughed. "You are _soo _pathetically jealous."

"It's not like you're giving me a reason not to be. I'm not able to go out with you because I'm injured, so you go and find another guy to go out with so you won't mess up your plans?"

Paulina put a hand on her hip and frowned. "Dash...our relationship is casual...it always has been and you know that...you've taken advantage of that before! What's you're deal?" Dash was about to reply when Paulina seemed to remember something. "Wait, are you gonna be able to go to the Homecoming Dance with me?"

Dash raised an eyebrow. "Duh, of course, that's not for like, another month—" Dash paused and he frowned at Paulina. "And if I wasn't?"

"Then I'd have to find another date, duh." Paulina flipped her hair back. "Ugh. Honestly, Dash, you need to check your attitude." She pulled a piece of fabric out of her purse and laid it on Dash's bed. "That's what color my dress is for homecoming. Call me when you have your life adjusted."

With those parting words, Paulina turned around sharply and sauntered out the door.

Dash stared at the closed door for a second before he closed his eyes and breathed out heavily. He would call her sometime later tonight and apologize; they would make-up and ride to school together tomorrow. That's how their fights were always resolved.

Dash shook his head. What was he thinking...getting so jealous? He had never actually gotten jealous before, but maybe that was because he had never actually liked Paulina before. She was a cheerleader and he was the quarterback; therefore, they were supposed to date. They'd been together since their freshman year, but they both knew the relationship was open, and they both went on other dates frequently.

So why had he lost his cool this time?

Dash stared up at the wall of his awards again. He would never, ever admit this to anyone, but...Dash thought he was scared. Scared of losing everything he'd ever known. Even though this injury had only been mildly serious, who knew if the next one would be life-threatening or career-ending? He heard horror stories all the time about athletes pulling an ACL or getting knocked in the head the wrong way and then...poof. Their career was gone.

If that happened to Dash, he would have nothing. And the conversation he'd just had with Paulina was proof enough that she wasn't anything to count on. Too bad too...considering he was just now getting to the point to where he liked her just a little too much.

So...his awards, his potential fame, his girl...everything would be gone if something bad ever happened to him.

Dash laid back on his bed. But there was no other choice, was there? He wasn't good at anything else, so he had to give football his all and hope for the best, didn't he?

The more Dash realized that was the truth, the more uncertain he became about whether or not he was happy with his life.

Growing up was horrible.

Suddenly, Dash remembered something...an offer he had gotten not too long ago. Dash sat up in bed, a smile playing at his lips. Maybe all he had was football, but shouldn't he have a back-up plan? Just in case things went south?

And he knew exactly what his back-up plan could be. But wait...Dash had been such a jerk to the man. Why would he want to hire Dash anymore?

Suddenly, Dash remembered Mr. Fenton calling him yesterday, and how surprised he had been to get the call. Couldn't Dash do exactly what the bumbling idiot had done for him? He could pass some kind words along to someone else, and get something for himself in return.

Dash smiled as he flipped through his contacts list. Maybe growing up wasn't so horrible after all.

* * *

"Hello?" He had been taking a short nap and had just woken before his telephone rang. He was still a little groggy though.

"Hi, is this Mr. Gray?"

"Yes it is. How can I help you?" Damon pulled the lever on the side of the recliner and sat up in an upright position.

"Hi, this is Dash Baxter. You offered me an internship a few days ago."

Damon frowned. Yes, he remembered offering the internship to the boy, but he also remembered the boy's reaction.

"_An internship at Axion Labs? What? Why would I want that?" Dash asked the man, incredulously._

"_I just thought that you might be interested in the job. It will definitely be a growing field in your lifetime. If you don't like it, you don't have to stick around very long, but you could gain experience in something that could set the tone for the rest of your life. Getting into college would be easier and—"_

"_Look, I'm getting into college based on my football playing ability. An internship at some lab isn't going to help my chances any. Why did you even bothering coming to me?"_

_Damon sighed. "I offered it to Kwan, since he's Valerie's best friend's boyfriend. But he said he didn't want to go into anything like that; he told me to ask you because he didn't know what your plans are."_

_Dash scoffed. "I'll have to have a talk with him."_

"Um...yes, yes I did."

"Well, first off, I want to apologize for how I treated you the other day. It wasn't right of me to talk that way, so sorry about that. But, if the offer is still available, I was wondering if you would still like to have me as your intern."

Damon was speechless. The boy was apologizing? From what Valerie had told him about Dash, the football player wasn't much for admitting weakness. But to offer an apology to someone...that caused Damon to instantly change his mind about the boy. Anyone who would offer themselves up on the slaughtering table after disrespecting authority was a good person in Damon's eyes.

"What changed your mind, Dash?"

"Well, a couple of things. I got to thinking about my future and how I needed a back-up plan if football doesn't work out for some reason. And then, I just thought apologizing would sort of make your day or something. I mean, someone had the guts enough to call me up and say sorry for something. After all, if I suddenly dropped dead, you'd think I thought you were crazy for offering me that job, and I realize now that that was the wrong impression to leave on you, sir."

Damon smiled. He could tell that with a little bit of work, this boy would turn out all right.

"Well, could you start tomorrow?"

There was silence on the other end of the line.

"Wha—Yeah! I mean, yes. Yes, sir. I'll be there right after school. I can't start back football practice for a couple weeks anyway."

"Good, I'll see you tomorrow, Dash."

"Thank you, Mr. Gray."

* * *

**A/N:** Please leave me your thoughts! I love hearing them! Until next time...


	13. Damon

**A/N: **Wow...it's been over a month...a month! And the crazy thing is, I had about half of this written the day after I posted the last chapter. But I stopped writing it, got extremely busy, and haven't had the time or the inspiration to write since. But never fear! I am back! (Lol...I'm on spring break, which explains a lot about this update, just to let you know.)

This past month hasn't been wasted, of course. Along with schoolwork, I've managed to finish the Harry Potter movies (which I loved, by the way), and I read the Hunger Games (which, if you haven't read, you should) so I could go to the midnight premiere of the Hunger Games last Friday. I've also (sorta) learned how to play soccer. So...it's been a pretty entertaining month, if I do say so myself.

Anyway, I'll stop boring you. You're all here for the story anyway, right! :D I'd be concerned for you if you weren't.

Thanks a ton to my awesome reviewers and readers! Keep it up, guys! You're amazing!

* * *

**Last Call: Damon**

* * *

Damon was still staring at the phone, tossing it in the air every few seconds and then catching it again. He was shocked at the change of heart that Dash Baxter had undergone; as much as Damon wondered why Dash had decided to take up the offer of the internship, Damon was content in knowing that Dash had apologized. For Damon, knowing that the boy had the ability to realize he was wrong was good enough.

"Who was that, Dad?"

Damon finally set the phone down and turned to look at his daughter. "Dash Baxter."

Valerie raised an eyebrow and sat down on the couch. "What did _he _want?"

"He accepted the internship position I had offered him a couple weeks back. I think he's a fine young man."

Valerie laughed, but quickly tried to stifle the rude laughter. "Um...I don't think I would consider Dash Baxter to be much of a man. And what about Kwan? I thought you said you were going to offer it to him?

"I did, but Kwan wasn't too excited about it. He suggested I ask Dash, and he turned it down at first, but he just called back and told me he'd love to give it a try. He said something about a back-up plan just in case football doesn't work out."

Valerie's face morphed from confusion into understanding. "Ohhh, that makes sense now. Jack Fenton gave Dash a concussion last week. He's probably worried about getting a bad injury one day and not being able to play football anymore."

Damon nodded. "Sounds sensible." Damon clicked the television on, and the two sat in comfortable silence for a couple of minutes.

Suddenly, Valerie sighed. "It's a lot quieter without Danielle around, isn't it?"

Damon smiled. He missed the rambunctious girl as well. "Yeah, she sure was a rowdy one." Damon studied his daughter for a moment and weighed the severity of the reaction his next question would receive. "Why don't you go visit her some?"

Damon watched as Valerie became tense—he didn't even think she knew she was doing it anymore. The reaction had become so natural over the last few months that Damon figured she was used to the feeling.

"Um, that's probably not a great idea. I mean, I don't want to smother her. I'm her friend, and she deserves to live wherever she wants...and living with the Fentons is probably good for her."

Damon thought about what he wanted to say next. Should he be direct with his words? Or more subtle? Well, he had been trying to subtly push Valerie back in the direction of a friendship with the Fenton boy for weeks now, so maybe it was time to try a more direct approach.

"Valerie, you need to talk to Danny." Valerie pursed his lips and shook her head.

"Why should I?"

Damon struggled to come up with the right words. This topic was a serious one. He exhaled slowly, then suddenly remembered his daughter's words from years ago. "Do you remember telling me once that you'd give up ghost hunting for that boy?"

Valerie jerked her head toward Damon. Her eyes were wide, and her face was morphed into confusion. "This is getting borderline awkward, Dad."

Damon shrugged. "I'm required to meet a quota of awkward father/daughter talks with you each year." He paused. "So...do you?"

Valerie sighed and picked up the remote to mute the television. She threw her dad a sideways glance. "That was two very long years ago. _Everything_has changed since then, Dad. I don't like him anymore, and he and Sam are dating. Whatever feelings we had for each other freshmen year are long gone, and they're never coming back."

Damon allowed Valerie to finish, but he looked at her with a critical eye. "Yes, I realize that. But the same principle of what you said can still stand."

Valerie raised an eyebrow, obviously confused. "It's not like I hunt him anymore."

Damon shook his head. "That's not what I meant. I mean, could you not let go of your hatred for the sake of your past friendship?"

Valerie scoffed. She sunk lower into the couch and folded her arms across her chest. "Our past friendship. That's all it is. That's really all it was, too. It's not like we were best friends; I mean, if we saw each other, we'd say hey. That was the extent of our friendship. We didn't hang out or anything. We just acknowledged each other's existence."

Damon nodded. "Yeah...but you don't even do that anymore, do you?" Valerie rolled her eyes, but didn't answer. "Will you tell me something? Why did you completely shut him out of your life after everything that happened? You seemed as if you were beginning to cool your hatred of Phantom...before he revealed himself, anyway."

Valerie sighed, and glared at her dad. "Look, Dad, he lied to me. I was hunting Phantom for two whole years; meanwhile, I was trying to decide what kind of feelings I had for Danny. And he never thought that telling me this huge, dark secret was important? Why not? We were _friends_, almost more than friends. And he thought I would mind? He thought keeping me in the dark was better than telling me the truth?"

Damon kept a smooth face. "Just like you did?"

Valerie's glare instantly softened. She opened her mouth and appeared to be searching for the right words to say. Her mouth closed, then opened again. Uncertainly, she answered, "Well, he already knew my secret."

Damon nodded, acknowledging the truth in that statement. "Yes, yes he did. But you didn't know that."

At that, Valerie deflated. She bit her lip, shook her head, and stood up. "I've...got a test to study for for tomorrow." She said nothing else as she walked out of the room.

Damon sat back, satisfied with his work. Maybe she would think about her actions more now.

But for the time being, he needed to think about his actions.

Damon looked back at the phone he had set down. Damon thought there was more reasoning behind Dash taking the job offer than him simply wanting a back-up plan for his life. Actually, something Dash had said was still bouncing around in Damon's mind. Dash had said that he wanted to apologize for the way he had acted. But not just that. He wanted to apologize for the simple fact of being nice, just in case he never got the chance to.

Damon liked that idea: passing something on just to offer a kind word to someone. Many days, Damon felt down and out, like he wasn't quite making the grade when it came to providing for Valerie or making ends meet. So Dash's nice words had uplifted him today.

Couldn't he try and uplift someone else today? Just in case he never got the chance again?

Someone who wouldn't expect it, someone who deserved a word of encouragement, just in case he or she was not feeling so great. The question was who? Who should he call? He didn't think he'd have much to say to any of the guys at work, nothing life-changing at least. So who deserved his last words?

His thoughts turned to Valerie and her classmates. Teenagers these days were so stressed out constantly that they probably needed a motivational word now and then. But what sixteen year old would appreciate a nice gesture from someone Damon's age?

Damon shook his head, laughing a little bit. High school students really did have to much to do. They were required to keep up with increasingly difficult schoolwork, many had a job, and most students still maintained a social life in midst of the pressures from school and work. Damon grimaced. Sometimes he thought teenagers thought too highly of their social life, or at least thought too much about other peoples' lives; he knew Valerie had once been part of the "in-crowd." But even after Damon had gotten his job back, Valerie had seen no reason to try and become friends again with the people who had kicked her out of the group.

Damon smiled at that thought. He really believed Valerie had grown a lot because of that difficult season in her life, and he hoped she would grow from the difficult season she was now going through.

But the fact that Valerie's so called "friends" had kicked her out of the their group for the simple fact that her dad had lost his job did prove that teens were too interested in what was going on with other peoples' lives. Valerie had told Damon everything that had gone on around school during that hard time, and Damon was amazed at the pressure everyone had been under to not talk to Valerie anymore.

That's why Damon was glad that Star had decided to still be Valerie's friend. According to Valerie, Star managed to maintain her place in the popular crowd, while continuing a stable friendship with Valerie. But Valerie had also told Damon about all the criticism Star had received in choosing to not alienate Valerie from her life.

Damon mulled over the thought of calling Star to thank her for having the courage to keep up her friendship with his daughter. But Damon felt like he wanted to go a little deeper than that. What difficulty did Star go through to stay friends with Valerie?

Before he really even had a chance to think about it, a story Valerie had told him a couple years ago popped into his mind. And he knew who he needed to call.

* * *

Even though he'd been awake for some time, he was still in bed when his mom opened the door and told him someone wanted to talk to him. He took the phone and held it up to his ear. "Hello?"

"Hi, Kwan? This is Damon Gray."

"Mr. Gray? Is something wrong? I already told you I didn't want the internship."

"No, no, that's not why I was calling." Mr. Gray took a deep breath. "Listen, I was just thinking about something...something I'm grateful for that you've probably forgotten about and didn't even know I knew about."

Kwan was confused. What was Mr. Gray talking about? And why did he need to call on a Sunday and tell him this? "O...kay."

"Remember back in ninth grade when Valerie was told she couldn't be friends with your group anymore? And remember how Dash pressured you to break up with Star later on that year because Star was still friends with Valerie?" Kwan thought back to those long-ago, drama-filled days. "I know you're probably surprised to find out that I knew what was going on, but Valerie kept me very informed during that time. Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks for taking a stand against your best friend. Valerie told me how she had already told Star to not jeopardize her relationship by staying friends with her. So you telling Dash to back off really meant a lot, not just to her, but to me. Because I couldn't stand the thought of seeing my daughter suffer from losing her only friend."

Kwan's mouth was hanging open, and he numbly held the phone. This call must be the strangest he'd ever received. Not only was it from an adult (who apparently had been informed on the inner workings of the A-list) but it was old news...very old, outdated news.

"I suppose your confused. Let me try and explain. See, someone called me and apologized for something he had done. And, well, it just made my day, so I wanted to pass an encouraging word on. Because I figured I could maybe brighten your day, tell you something you needed to know, something you would have never known I appreciated if I hadn't told you."

Though still not quite grasping the entirety of the situation, Kwan realized he should probably respond. "Oh...well, thanks Mr. Gray. It...means a lot that you told me."

"Your welcome, Kwan. Oh, and by the way, Dash told me he was accepting the internship position...surprise, surprise. So thanks for the recommendation."

"Anytime." After a couple more seconds of inconsequential words, the two hung up, leaving a still slightly curious Kwan wondering what exactly had just happened.

* * *

**A/N: **Hope you enjoyed and hope it was worth the wait! The entire situation between Kwan, Star, Dash, and Val will be spilled out next chapter, so don't worry too much about the missing details. Although, the next chapter may take as long, if not longer, as this one to get up. Finals start the first week of May and between now and then it's gonna be cram, cram, cram.

So, as always, leave me your wonderful thoughts which I enjoy reading so much!


	14. Kwan

**A/N: **Hello everyone! I'm back! I know it's been awhile, but finals are over and now I'm back, ready to finish up this story pretty soon. I'm really excited about the last few chapters that are coming up and can't wait for you all to get to the end!

Thanks for all the reviews and thanks to all my readers!

* * *

**Last Call: Kwan**

* * *

_"Well...that settles it. Ugh—Dash is so stupid. I can't believe he's making me give up my best friend in the world."  
_

_Kwan grimaced and put his arm around Star. "Yeah, I don't understand. We've been going out for months now. Why is this a problem all of a sudden?"_

_Star sighed and looked at Kwan. "Maybe because Dash thought we wouldn't stay together so long. Maybe he thought we would fizzle out."_

_Kwan was upset with this entire conversation—he was really upset with Dash too. Kwan and Star had been dating for a few months. They had decided to fake getting together to get rid of Manson and Foley, but they continued spending time together after that. Before long, they had become inseparable. But just the other day, Dash had approached Kwan and asked him to break up with Star. Kwan, taken aback, asked why, and Dash had told him this: "Star is too good friends with Valerie. And Valerie's not on the A-list anymore."_

_Kwan had countered him, saying that Paulina was fine with Star remaining friends with Valerie, but Dash wouldn't hear anything about it. "I can't have my right-hand man dating a girl who's friends with a loser. Look, either she breaks off her friendship with that loser, or you break up with her."_

_Star had been crushed by the news, and she had gone to talk to Valerie right away. Valerie was angry as well, but she insisted that Star shouldn't end her relationship just because of her. Kwan was sure there must have been lots of tears, but he wasn't too keen on asking Star about every little detail. _

_"I wish Dash would realize that this is no big deal. I'm Valerie's only close friend. Sure, she's got that loser Fenton, but I think that's about to go sour soon. And those other two—Manson and Foley—they don't like her much at all. If Paulina's fine with me being friends with Valerie, Dash should be too. Sometimes, I really can't stand him. I wish someone could put him in his place."_

_Kwan frowned. Star was right, but who could ever tell the big man on campus what to do? He suddenly smiled and stood up, causing Star to jump slightly. "What are you doing?" she asked. _

_"What you said. Putting Dash in his place. I'm the only person who can possibly try and get away with it." At Star's confused looked, Kwan put a hand on his forehead and spun around, throwing his hands in the air. "I'm the second most popular guy on campus. If anyone can get Dash to change his mind, it's me."_

_"Kwan...you're only the second most popular guy because you're best friends with Dash. If you ruin that, you're ruined too," Star reasoned._

_But Kwan wouldn't hear it. "It's worth a shot...especially to keep you happy. Got to go."_

_Quickly, Kwan left Star's house and headed toward Dash's place, only a five minute walk. Dash answered the door with a smile, inviting Kwan inside to hang out._

_"Wasn't expecting you, but that's cool," Dash said as they walked toward Dash's room. "I got a new video game. Bet you'll like it."_

_As soon as they were behind Dash's closed bedroom door, Kwan stopped and frowned, causing Dash to stop as well. "What's up?" he asked. _

_"Star."_

_Dash groaned and slapped his forehead. "Not this again...look, man, I told you. You got to dump her. Star is on her way off the A-list. She's on her way down."_

_"Why? That doesn't make sense," Kwan countered. "You can't argue with the fact that Paulina runs the A-list. And if she's fine with us dating, why aren't you?"_

_"I don't care who you date Kwan!" Dash exclaimed, his eyes narrowing. "As long as she's popular."_

_"Which Star is."_

_"No...Star is losing her touch. Contact with less popular people does that to a person."_

_"Star is more concerned with her popularity than any person I know!" Kwan yelled, causing Dash to take a step back. "She is scared to death of losing her reputation, and if she thought that hanging out with Valerie would look bad, she wouldn't do it. But she does spend time with Valerie because they're friends, Dash. She's not going to let her go."_

_A moment passed before Dash answered. "If Star won't let go, you let go."_

_Kwan narrowed his eyes in determination, but Dash folded his arms. His decision was final—him changing his mind was not going to happen. Kwan deflated, the fight leaving him. He sighed. He'd done all he could. Kwan wanted to threaten to leave the A-list for Star, but Kwan knew him leaving the popular crowd would cause Star to lose her popularity—which she wouldn't want either. He shook his head, defeated, and turned toward the door. As soon as his hand touched the doorknob, a thought occurred to him, and he smiled. _

_Blackmail._

_He let go of the doorknob and attempted to hide his smirk as he turned back around. _

_"I understand Dash. Don't worry—everything's clear now."_

_Dash raised an eyebrow, suspicion creeping in his eyes. "Good. Now go dump her."_

_Kwan shook his head. "That's not what I mean." Kwan could tell that Dash was confused. Kwan threw his hands in the air. "Nothing else but the truth makes sense. You want Star for yourself."_

_It took a moment, but what Kwan was saying finally sunk into Dash's skull._

_"WHAT!"  
_

_Kwan flinched slightly, and his smirk began to reform. "You heard me. The reason you don't want me dating Star is because you want her free so you can date her yourself. It's not like you to go through so much trouble to get the girl you want."_

_"I wouldn't wanna date Star. That's stupid. Not when I have Paulina! And not when dating Star would make me less popular!" Dash exclaimed. _

_Kwan faked a scared look and held his hands up in mock surrender. "Fine. Fine. I believe you." Kwan paused for a beat, then smirked again. "But...will the rest of the school?"_

_A deep tension formed in the room, and the silence stretched on for ages. Finally, after nearly a minute of staring at each other, Dash spoke. "You wouldn't."_

_"Try me," Kwan responded._

_Another minute of silence passed between the two boys before Dash sighed and closed his eyes. He pursed his lips and made a shooing motion with his hand. "Whatever. Date Star. Do whatever. I don't care." He turned away from Kwan and sat down at his computer desk. "Get out of my room."_

_Smiling, Kwan left Dash's room with a final thought. "I knew you could listen to reason, Dash."_

Kwan still had trouble believing that he had threatened Dash the way he had back in ninth grade. He smiled though. Because of that threat, he and Star were still together and doing well. He would never forgot how standing up for himself that day made him feel, even if he hadn't made a habit of being forceful.

But he had never thought about the implications of his action any further than making sure he and Star were able to stay together. All he was concerned with that day was making sure Star was happy, which really impacted Valerie's life as well. Kwan had never thought about how much his actions had meant to Valerie. He was amazed that two years later, Valerie's dad would still hold that incident so high in his mind.

"Why are you smiling into your locker?" Kwan jumped what felt like a mile high. He whipped his head to the side and saw Star standing there with a big grin on her face. She laughed. "That was priceless."

Kwan laughed and shut the door to his locker. "Yeah, yeah." He put his arm around his girlfriend. "Just give me a heart attack, why don't you?"

"Well, if it'll get you to class on time." They laughed and started walking toward their last class of the day. Their path took them right by the famous half-ghost everyone couldn't seem to stop talking about lately. His remarkably similar looking cousin, Dani, was busy complaining.

"Danny, _please_. He's so creepy! You have to check him out. Spy on him. Follow him home. _Something_. He's seriously weird."

Danny shut his locker and looked down at his cousin with a perplexed expression. "I don't understand. You've only met him one time."

"I don't care. There's something freaky about Mr. Johnson."

Before Danny responded, Kwan and Star had moved out of the hearing range of the two. Kwan started thinking, trying to figure out who Mr. Johnson was and why he would be considered creepy. He couldn't remember-

"Oh! Mr. Johnson!" Star suddenly exclaimed. She looked at Kwan. "Isn't he that new business teacher?"

Now Kwan remembered. "Oh yeah, Mrs. Jennings retired last year, but they couldn't find a new teacher before summer. So didn't she come back this year...just until a replacement could be found?"

Star was nodding. "Yeah, that's right. I think I remember them announcing something about a new business teacher and that Mrs. Jennings was leaving for good."

"Yep. Mr. Johnson...he is that new business teacher," Kwan agreed.

Star laughed. "Sounds like Dani doesn't like him." Kwan glanced back at where the two had been talking, but they were already gone.

"Wonder what's so creepy about him?"

Star shrugged. "It's probably no big."

The two entered their last class of the day and sat down in their seats. While their teacher—Mrs. Humms—was gathering her things together, Star leaned over to Kwan. "Party at my house this Friday after the game. Can you come over before the game and help me set things up?"

"I'll be there," Kwan promised, nodding his head. Before their conversation could continue, Mrs. Humms stood up, a slightly confused look on her face.

"Okay, five bonus points for anyone who remembers what I did with your tests from Friday." The class laughed, and a couple of people stood up and began helping her find the tests. Kwan just smiled; this woman was so disorganized.

While the majority of the class participated in the hunt for the tests, Kwan's mind roamed back to his thoughts before class. He was still in slight shock that Mr. Gray had called him; most people would've said a thank-you a day or two after the incident and forgotten about it. But Mr. Gray had taken the time to say thanks years later. And not only that—he had said something about how he just wanted to make someone's day. He wanted to make sure that Kwan knew how he felt just in case he never got the chance to tell him.

Kwan pursed his lips, thinking. _That's an interesting thought. What would I tell someone—if I had only one chance to tell someone something—like my last words? _

A bump on his leg caused Kwan to snap out of his thoughts. Star was staring at him. "Are you okay?"

"Hmm? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" Kwan asked.

Star was obviously unconvinced. "You're like...totally spaced out."

"Am I?" Kwan asked. Star smiled a lopsided smile and nodded. She was about to respond, but someone had found the missing tests and class was beginning to resume. Star returned her attention to Mrs. Humms, but Kwan continued to think about who he would call and what he would tell them.

He would have never expected Valerie's dad to call him, so who could he call that would be unexpected? He thought hard. Any of his friends would expect a call from him, even the ones he rarely spoke to. They wouldn't think anything of receiving a call from Kwan. His parents wouldn't think it odd to receive a call either.

Kwan sighed and glanced around the room. Mrs. Humms was fiddling with the projector. "Okay, I just push this button and—why isn't this working? This is what they told me to do. I just don't understand..." She continued to mumble to herself. Kwan stared at the computer, trying to see if he could figure out what was wrong. He spotted a disconnected cable in the back of the computer and sighed. He just sat back and folded his arms. She would probably try to "fix" the projector for at least another five minutes before she gave up and just lectured.

Suddenly, Kwan knew who he needed to call.

* * *

A few minutes after the bell rang to signal the end of class, her phone started ringing, and her boyfriend had to say goodbye. She waved after him as she answered her phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Sam!"

Sam stopped walking, a confused look coming over her face. "Hey...um, who is this?"

"It's Kwan, of course! What's up?"

Sam was taken aback. Why was Kwan calling her? What did he need? "Um, same thing as you. Leaving school."

"Oh right," Kwan responded, as if he hadn't thought of that. Sam rolled her eyes as she began walking toward her house. "Well, remember a couple years ago when we hung out for like a few days and you sort of found about about my secret love of technology?"

Sam stopped again. "Yeah, of course." A moment of silence stretched on for a couple of seconds. "Why do you ask?"

"Because I want to thank you. Thank you for keeping it a secret. It really means a lot. More than I really think you'll ever know. So thanks."

Sam closed her eyes and shook her head quickly, trying to make sense of the call. "Wait, so let me get this straight. It's been two years since you told me you used to be a techno-geek, we've kept our deal going for that long, and you randomly decide to call and thank me for keeping it a secret today? Why? That doesn't make any sense at all."

"Well, I got this call yesterday from someone who told me thanks for something I did a long time ago. And, well, it made me feel really good, so I was sitting in class today thinking about doing the same thing, and you came to mind because I don't think I've really ever thanked you for keeping it a secret. I mean really thanked you. And I want to make sure you know how I feel, because one day I won't be able to tell you."

Sam raised an eyebrow at Kwan's explanation and smiled. "That's a good reason. Your welcome, Kwan. I've never even entertained the thought of telling someone. But hey, is this a bad time to ask you to come over? Danny's not with me and Tucker is busy, but my computer was acting up this morning."

"On my way! See you in a second, Sam!"

The line went dead, and Sam put her phone up, laughing at the strange call.

* * *

**A/N**: Alright, so this back-story actually has a story connected with it. If you feel like it, you can read my fic _Techno-Geek Turned Jock _if you want to read about why/how Kwan decided to change his image. But if you don't feel like reading it, all you need to know is that Kwan moved to Amity Park at the beginning of his ninth grade year. Before that, he went to school in California. After moving, he decided to dump his nerdy image. For the entire story, check out the fic.

We're getting down to the final stretch here people. Feels good to finally have another chapter uploaded. This chapter and and the next are probably going to be two of my favorites (I don't think I could ever really pick a favorite, though), but for a strange reason that I can't tell you about. XD

Anyway, I ended up really liking Kwan's chapter a lot more than I thought I was going to. What did you all think? Please let me know by leaving a review!


	15. Sam

**A/N: **Okay guys, long chapter. Easily the longest of the story so far. It's 9 pages, and my usual chapters hover somewhere around 5 or 6. Too much was happening! I blame my overactive imagination and allowing myself too long to think about things. If I would just stop thinking about how cool certain calls/conversations would be, I wouldn't be so long winded.

Haha, okay, I'll shut up about it. Please enjoy this chapter!

A grand thank you to everyone who reviewed!

* * *

**Last Call: Sam**

* * *

"_My favorite poetry place, Kwan. And you got me kicked out!" _

_Kwan was frowning, his expression of mixture of being sorry and being scared. "Sorry."_

"Sorry _isn't good enough, Kwan. I can never go back there." Sam paused, seeming to think something over. "Well maybe not never...but it's gonna be awhile."_

_"I know, I know. But...I just don't understand how you like all that gloomy stuff." Kwan smiled. "Happy and cheerful is just so much better!"_

_"Ugh!" Sam exclaimed. She slammed her head against her desk. "Sure it is," she agreed sarcastically in a dry voice. Sam realized making him understand her life was completely pointless. She sighed and lifted her head again. "What kind of music do you like?" Sam asked as she pulled her laptop closer to her. She was so sick of spending time with Kwan, but nothing she did would shake him._

"_Ooh! Pop. As long as the songs are very happy and upbeat!" _

Kill me now_, Sam thought. She opened her laptop, but before she did anything, the screen lurched and froze. Sam jumped and growled. "It's been doing this for the past few days. Every time I open it up, it freezes, and I have to restart it."_

_Kwan frowned and leaned in closer. "Wonder what's wrong." Annoyed, Sam pushed Kwan back away._

"_Dunno. I hope it's not about to crash. I'm gonna call Tuck." Sam stood up and walked away from the computer. She dialed her friend's number and waited. _

"_Hello?" Tucker answered in a whispered voice. _

"_Tucker? Hey, are you busy?"_

_"Guess," he answered dryly. "Star is driving me insane, but I can't get away. I—"_

"_FOLEY! Where are you!" Sam flinched upon hearing the shrill voice of the cheerleader over the phone. _

_Tucker sighed. "I gotta go, Sam. Sorry." _

"_Tucker, no. I need—" _

_The call went dead. Sam groaned. She'd tried calling him whenever her computer messed up, but he'd been stuck with Star every time. She was getting really sick of this whole Danny dating Paulina thing, even if it was only because he didn't want Kitty to spill his secret. Sam trudged back over to her desk, where Kwan was still sitting quietly. _

"_Well, Tucker's busy so he's not gonna be able to come over." She looked at her computer, still angry at the piece of ju—_

"_What's going on?" Her screen was black and long streams of number and letters were running across it. Sam glanced at Kwan. "What did you do?"_

_Kwan looked surprised. "Huh? What did I do? I didn't do anything. How could I have..." Kwan trailed off under Sam's menacing glare. "Okay, I did something."_

_"Oh, Kwan, you probably made the problem worse!" Sam groaned._

_Kwan responded defensively. "No, no, I promise I didn't. I—I—" Kwan sighed. "Can you keep a secret?" _

_Sam folded her arms. "Depends. What's the secret?"_

_Kwan hung his head and mumbled. "Iusedtobeatechno-geek."_

"_Huh?"_

_Sighing, Kwan said louder, "I used to be a techno-geek." Sam's face scrunched up in confusion. _

"_What?—when?"_

"_Okay," Kwan began, twiddling his thumbs. "You know I moved here just this year, right?" Sam nodded. "Well, before I came here, I was one of the nerdiest kids in school...I was just like Tucker! In love with technology and everything about it." Sam's eyes were wide. Kwan motioned to her laptop. "So I did what I could. Please don't tell anyone; if you do, it'll ruin my reputation."_

_Sam shook her to clear her thoughts. She glanced at her computer, then back at Kwan. She smirked. "Okay, I'll make you a deal. I'll keep your secret if you fix my tech stuff whenever Tucker's busy."_

_Kwan smiled and held out his hand. Sam shook it. "Deal."_

"Don't worry she said; it's no big deal but I'm taking a ghost tracker so I'll know if you follow me she said!"

At the sound of a slamming locker door, Sam snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Danny. He was glaring a hole in his locker door. "I...shouldn't have told you, huh?"

"I'm busy but I can't tell you what I'm I doing he said," Danny continued to mock.

Sam smirked. "Nope, I shouldn't have told you."

"Did they have to go behind my back?"

Laughing, Sam replied, "Apparently so."

Danny had been worried about Jazz Saturday night, so he had asked Sam to spy on Jazz and find out who her date had been. When Sam saw Tucker and Jazz together, she had had to call on all her self-control to not laugh out loud. Danny had been worried about nothing. It was just Tucker.

And then reality had hit, and Sam realized Jazz's date wasn't a good thing for Danny.

Because...it was Tucker.

She had returned to her house only minutes before the four of them left for the Who's Who Ball. She had managed to come up with an excuse to not tell Danny what was going on. She'd even managed to make excuses or avoid Danny until Monday night. But last night, Danny had forced her to tell him what she had found out Saturday night.

Now, it was Tuesday, and Danny was still fuming over the secret date that had taken place.

Tucker came out of Lancer's room. "Sorry, had to talk to Lancer about my grade on that last paper." Tucker opened his locker and stuck his books inside. He turned a questioning eye at the silence from Danny and Sam. "Something...wrong?"

Sam bit her lip. Now would not be a good time for Danny to blow up. He'd managed to avoid talking to Tucker all day, but now Sam was a little nervous. At the same time, Sam remembered the conversation she and Danny had had on the way to school this morning. Danny wanted to wait and see if Tucker would come clean before he let on that he knew anything.

"Nope," Danny replied to Tucker's question. Sam noticed his voice was a bit strained. "Why?" he suddenly asked, stepping closer to Tucker. "Something wrong with you?" Sam rolled her eyes at Danny's intensiveness.

"Um, no." Tucker raised an eyebrow. "But it seems like you've been avoiding me all day. Just wondering." He closed his locker and started to walk away.

"Me and Sam had fun at the ball Saturday night," Danny said quickly. Sam kept her mouth shut. That was such a lie. The ball had been a snore fest.

Tucker stopped and turned back to Danny. "That's good."

"Yeah...it's too bad you weren't able to hang out, though." Danny allowed a moment of silence, and Sam knew what was coming next. "So...what did you say you were busy doing?"

Tucker showed slight nervousness for the first time. "I didn't. It was just stuff."

"Just stuff?" Danny asked, anger in his voice. "Why can't you tell me what was going on."

Tucker glared at Danny. "Look, I don't have to tell you every detail of my life, man. What's with you?" Tucker turned back around and began walking off again.

"Uh huh...and where are you off to now?" Danny asked.

Tucker turned around and dryly responded. "Work, duh. Or do you think the city's going to run itself?" With that, Danny finally allowed his poor friend to leave.

With Tucker out of earshot, Sam snorted. "Smooth, Danny. Real smooth."

Sam turned and started walking toward the cafeteria. Her boyfriend jogged to catch up with her. "Well, I wish he'd stop lying to me." Danny's face was dark. "I wish he'd just tell me he went out with my sister." After thinking for a second, Danny added, "Or Jazz should tell me."

Sam raised an eyebrow. "I bet Jazz hasn't told you because Tucker asked her not to."

The two walked through the doors of the lunch room and grabbed trays. "What? Why would he do that? He can't tell my sister what to do. Who does he think he is?"

Sam laughed. "Take a breath, will ya? And chill. You act like he's committed some crime." Sam walked off to select her salad and met Danny at their usual seat. "What's the big deal anyway? It's just Tucker."

"_That's _the big deal, Sam. It's _Tucker_. He's my best friend, and he's dating my sister. It's weird."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down there. Who said they're dating?" Sam asked. She smiled as he stuttered over his answer. She held up a hand to stop him. "I'm sorry to interrupt what I'm sure would've been a very well thought out and articulated response, but can I please offer you some sense? They've only been on one date. One date does not equal being a couple."

"Who says this is the first date?" Danny asked bitterly.

Sam sighed. Were all guys really this dim? "Look, Danny. If they had been secretly dating before Jazz left for college, it would've been pretty obvious, don't you think? It would've been hard for them to keep it a secret, so if they weren't dating before she went to college, something must have happened while she's been away. But no person would actually start a relationship over the phone or the internet. And since this is the first time Jazz has been home since leaving, this _must _have been their first date."

Danny's face showed amazement. "Wow. You've really thought this through."

Sam shrugged and took a bite of her salad. "What's there to think through? It's only sensible." Danny opened his mouth as if to counter her, but he thought better of it and just smiled. "So don't worry; there's a chance nothing will happen."

Danny put his elbow on the table and leaned on his hand. "I guess."

"But—"

"But?" Danny interrupted. He sat straight up. "But? There's a but? What but?"

Sam laughed. "But...if something does happen, think about it. Tucker is your best friend."

"Jazz could do better," Danny mumbled.

Sam raised an eyebrow. "Oh, she could? Well, I'd say Tucker is better than Johnny 13, wouldn't you?" Danny had no reply to that. Sam continued, "Since Tucker is your best friend, don't you think he'll be extra careful to treat Jazz right? He wouldn't want to risk your friendship either, would he?"

Danny sighed, and Sam smirked. They both knew she had won the debate. Danny gave her a look. "Okay, fine. I understand your point. And...I guess you're right." He paused, thoughtful, and a smile formed on his face. "But when Tucker tells me, I'm still going act super mad."

"What? Why?"

Danny shrugged. "Because he deserves it."

Sam rolled her eyes. "Boys."

When the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch, Sam asked Danny, "We're still studying for our history test today after school right?"

"Yes—er—wait, no," Danny said as the two stood up and began walking toward the trash can.

"No?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow. "The test is tomorrow."

"Well, not right after school. I have to go talk to Mr. Johnson today since I didn't get the chance yesterday because of Ember showing up." Danny gave Sam a sideways glance. "If you could wait a few minutes, that'd be great, and we can go study then."

Sam shrugged. "That's cool. I'll find something to do. So Dani's really freaked out about this teacher, huh?"

The two left the cafeteria, on their way to their next classes. Danny smiled a little. "Yeah. I don't know why exactly, though. She said he was asking her weird questions. I figure he was just trying to be nice; he's curious. She only had like a two minute conversation with the guy, and she's already decided he's no good. I think she's rushed her judgment."

Sam smirked. "Oh, wonder where she gets that from?" Sam muttered, looking at Danny.

Danny frowned and looked at Sam, "What was that?"

Holding up her hands in mock surrender, Sam said, "Nothing, nothing."

Danny looked like he was about to say something else, but he ran smack into someone who was walking out of a classroom. The man stumbled, but caught himself on the wall. He looked up, startled, and Sam studied the man. He was tall with dark brown hair and glasses; Sam didn't recognize him.

"I-I am so sorry Mr..." Danny trailed off, looking completely mortified for running into this stranger.

The man laughed. "No harm done. And my name's Johnson. Andy Johnson." He held out his hand to shake Danny's. Shocked, Danny took the man's hand, but sent a quick glance to Sam before turning back to Mr. Johnson.

"I'm—"

"Danny Fenton? Am I correct?" Mr. Johnson interrupted, straightening the papers in his hands and smoothing his dress shirt.

Danny laughed sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. "I forget—I have a reputation now."

Mr. Johnson smiled and nodded. "Indeed you do, but I think I would've recognized you by your clumsiness anyway. I've only been here two days, but I've already heard about how clumsy you can be. I feel honored to have almost been knocked to the ground by you."

Danny gaped. "Umm...thanks, I think." Again, he looked at Sam, who was standing quietly aside, taking in the moment.

"I needn't hold you up. Nice to meet you, Mr. Fenton." Mr. Johnson slapped Danny on the shoulder, beginning to walk away. Danny turned around.

"Sorry, again."

Stopping, Mr. Johnson laughed again. "Think nothing of it..." Danny smiled and took Sam's hand and began walking away. "...son." Danny stopped dead in his tracks at Mr. Johnson's last word. Sam, who wasn't expecting the stop, looked at Danny, who was staring at the retreating figure of the teacher. Danny wore a look of worry on his face, but he also looked confused.

"Danny?" she asked. He looked at her for a moment, but whipped his head back to look at Mr. Johnson again. Sam looked as well. Before entering the cafeteria, Mr. Johnson turned back to look at Danny again and smiled. Danny didn't move, even after Mr. Johnson was gone. Sam tugged on his hand, causing him shake his head and blink. They began moving once more.

Suspicious, Sam asked, "What was all that about?"

"Hmm?" Danny asked, looking at Sam. Sam raised her eyebrow, daring Danny to pretend like he hadn't just been acting strange. "Oh that? Nothing. Just reminded me of...I mean, nothing. No big deal." Sam sighed. She obviously wasn't going to get a straight answer out of him right now. Besides, she didn't have time. They only had thirty seconds left to get to their classes.

Danny dropped her off at her chemistry classroom, saying, "Dani's right...he is weird."

Confused, Sam replied, "What? You just had a half a minute conversation with the guy. Weren't you just saying Dani was rushing her judgment?"

Danny shrugged, a strange expression on his face, backing up to head to math. "I don't know. Maybe she was right."

Sam went to sit down in her seat, wondering how Danny figured Mr. Johnson was weird when all he had been was nice.

The day ended in a blur of work and the afternoon passed in a blur of studying and helping Danny remember important dates for their history test the next day. By the time Danny had to leave, Sam was ready to relax. She pulled her laptop onto her bed and sat down, flipping it open to surf the web. But as she did so, she was reminded of the strange call she had received from Kwan yesterday.

He had thanked her for keeping his love of technology a secret. She had really never thought much about it—her real reason for keeping it a secret was that she was sure he'd loose his popularity again if anyone found out, and then he'd think that he would have to hang out with her again, and Sam was sure she couldn't handle that.

But Kwan taking the time to thank her was interesting. And what had he said? That one day he wouldn't be able to tell her how he felt? Yeah, that was it. And that he wanted to make her feel good about herself. That was sort of sweet—she knew Kwan had a soft and carefree heart under the mean exterior he put forth to remain on the A-list.

Sam shut her computer and leaned back on her bed, liking where her thoughts were taking her. Kwan hadn't just randomly decided to call anyone—he'd decided to call Sam and tell her something she would never know unless Kwan himself told her...because no one knew how he felt. Sam smirked. The idea seemed like it took more thought to come up with than Kwan was capable of. And Kwan had said someone else had called him...so Sam was curious as to who had started this chain. Even more so, she was curious if a lot of people were a part of this chain, or if she were only the second person to receive a call. Either way, Sam felt it was her obligation to call someone, and she didn't want to pass up this opportunity.

So she started thinking.

Her first thought, naturally, was Danny. They'd been dating three months now. But he was also her best friend, and he knew everything about her. He would understand if he wasn't her last call. She thought about her other best friend. Her and Tucker were nearly as close as her and Danny—honestly, the only reason she wasn't closer to Tucker was because he'd been busy being the mayor for the past three months, which left little time for hanging out. There wasn't anything big or important that she needed to tell him, though...except that she knew he'd gone out with Jazz Saturday night. But Sam was pretty sure that secret would be coming out soon anyway.

She even thought about calling her parents. What would she tell them? That she hoped they would enjoy life without her and then ask them to not burn all her belongings? Sam smirked but shook her head—that would be low, even for her. Anyway, she didn't think she would have anything to say to them in her last minutes of life that they didn't already know. And they'd probably not even answer their phones, being too busy to worry about a call from their daughter. They would probably just brush it off and call her back when they had the time.

Sam frowned and looked at her clock. A half hour had passed. She wasn't surprised though. These thoughts were tricky ones. That's why she didn't believe Kwan could have started this chain.

Sam mulled over her thoughts for the next half hour, thinking of teachers and relatives and friends and acquaintances and people she'd only talked to once. While thinking about people from school, Valerie came to mind, and she considered devoting the last few minutes of her life to telling her off about being such a jerk to Danny, but she remembered that Kwan had wanted to brighten her day, so she decided against the yelling.

However, thinking of Valerie made her think of someone else. And Sam groaned, because she realized, she'd been ignoring this easy—yet not so easy—answer the entire time.

* * *

She was ignoring her homework and idly flipping through the latest issue of her favorite magazine when her cell phone rang. Without bothering to look at the caller ID—she was expecting a call tonight—she answered.

"Hello?"

She heard a heavy sigh from the other end of the phone. "Hi, Paulina."

Paulina flinched and shut her fashion magazine. This wasn't Star. This was—this was—

"Sam Manson?" Paulina asked. Great, now she would have to burn her phone. "What do _you _want? And how did you even get my number? Only people who are worth something are allowed to have my number and—"

"Are you gonna shut up and let me tell you why I called? Or are you gonna just gonna talk? The faster I talk, the faster you can go burn your phone." Paulina almost gasped. There was no way the goth loser could have mind reading powers...could she? Paulina shook her head and glared at the wall.

"Okay, fine, what?" she asked rather harshly.

Sam sighed again. "I wanted...to say thank you—"

"_What _are you thanking me for? You've never learned anything from me about how you're supposed to dress or wear your make-up or act or—"

"Would you let me finish?" Sam asked, anger in her voice. Clearly, she didn't like being on the phone with Paulina anymore than Paulina liked being on the phone with her. Paulina remained silent. "Anyway, like I was saying, I wanted to thank you. I know you had the hugest crush on Phantom, and I have a feeling that hasn't diminished any since he told the world he's Danny Fenton. But you haven't tried to throw yourself at him or steal him from me or anything else, which actually surprises me. But I guess even you have a shred of respect for another person's boyfriend. So, thanks Paulina. It..." Sam sighed again, and Paulina had a feeling whatever she was about to say was going to be difficult. "...it means a lot to me."

Stunned, Paulina couldn't say a word. The goth girl had just...she had just..._thanked her_! Paulina wasn't sure if she was grateful or annoyed.

"Yeah. So...you might be wondering why I decided to call you. I got this call from someone. He told me something only he knew but wanted me to know, and he told me it because he didn't want to lose the chance. I mean, we only have so many minutes in this life, right? And what if we only get one chance to tell someone how we feel? So that got me thinking, and I decided to call you. Because, let's be honest, no one in the entire school—including you or myself—would EVER imagine me calling you to say thanks for anything. So if I died in like five minutes, then you would never know how I felt. So that's why I called you."

Paulina still couldn't find her voice.

"Well...say something!" Sam shouted.

Paulina squeezed her eyes shut and muttered, "Thanks. That's...um, surprising."

"Yeah, that was the point."

"Yeah. So...is that it?"

"Guess so."

Without waiting on Paulina's response, Sam hung up.

* * *

**A/N: **Sam's thought process basically parallels Danny's from the first chapter, if you couldn't tell. I liked the parallel—which also managed to extend into who she called. She called her mortal enemy, just like Danny called his. XD I also decided to let Sam figure out the chain of calls that has been happening—to a certain extent. She's smart, so her realizing the bigger picture seemed appropriate.

A big congrats to ShizuoxIzya, who just discovered this story, but guessed Sam would be calling Paulina. Although, I don't figure it's much of a surprise, huh? Oh well, you'll hear more from Paulina next chapter.

Well, I'm headed to the beach tomorrow! So I'm glad I got this posted before I left. Please leave a review to let me know what you think! Till next time...happy speculation. :)


	16. Paulina

**A/N: **Considering I've been out of school for a month an a half and have had plenty of time to finish this story over the past month since the last time I posted a chapter, I have a fantastic excuse for why I've kept you all waiting for so long.

…

No I don't. My excuse is that I've read all seven Harry Potter books. I started the first one on May 24 and finished the last one on June 27. Probably could've finished them sooner if I hadn't had to wait to get back from the beach before getting the fourth book...or if I could read while I'm at work. Anyway, I managed to finish both the sixth and seventh books in the last 10 days. Besides going to church and work, I basically did nothing else but read. That includes not opening my laptop (although not using my laptop is also due to my recent gaining of an iPhone). Needless to say, this story was set on the very back burner. Haha...sorry! I greatly enjoyed the books though! Now I have to switch mindsets to make sure these characters stay IC for the last two chapters. :)

A big thank you as always to everyone who took the time to review! I love reading reviews so keep them coming!

Without further ado, I present, Paulina's last call.

* * *

**Last Call: Paulina**

* * *

With a frown that had little to do with the horrible grade she'd just received and had been unable to weasel out of, Paulina shut her locker door at school the next day and snuck a glance to her left. She barely had time to take in his messy black hair before a huge shape blocked her view. Looking up, she found the smiling face of her casual boyfriend, Dash.

"I failed. I need to find a nerd to take it out on." Paulina nodded to show she had heard him, but as he debated out loud which nerd he should beat up, Paulina studied him. Ever since their fight Sunday, something had seemed off about him. Sure, they had made-up like they always do, and life had gone on. But Paulina felt like Dash was still acting a little strange.

And the fact that he had gotten a job, an actual _job_, didn't help matters either.

"...show some fresh_meat _what it really means to be bottom of the barrel." Dash was grinding his fist into his hand. Paulina smirked as she watched two nervous looking freshmen squirm past the menacing football player. She crossed her arms and looked back at Dash.

"We're going Nasty Burger after school today," she told him. "I'm meeting with some of the cheer squad to talk about how we are _not _ordering bigger sized uniforms _just _because they can't show a little restraint when it comes to eating." Paulina eyed her fingernails as she talked. "Hopefully they'll see that salads are the best choice when it comes to eating out. Anyway, it shouldn't take long to strike a little fear into the girls. Then it'll just be me and you."

When Dash didn't respond immediately, Paulina stole a glance at him. He looked nervous. This behavior was one of the changes she'd noticed in him since Sunday. The old Dash never got nervous; he just stated the facts. "What?" she demanded.

"Paulina, you know I've got work after school now."

Paulina raised an eyebrow. "_Every _day? Isn't there like, child labor laws or something?"

"Yeah, well, it's an internship. It's more than just a job; I'm actually learning stuff I may use one day if I decide to work for Axion labs," Dash replied, this time a little defensively.

With a raised eyebrow, Paulina said, disdainfully, "_Work?_ So now you've got ideas of wanting to work? What happened to football? To college? To the NFL?" She paused and sized Dash up. "What happened to _you!_"

"It's just a back-up plan, don't freak out or anything!" Dash exclaimed. This was another way Dash was acting differently; she'd never known him to think about back-up plans before. He glanced around the hallway. Paulina looked too; people were starting to stare. She turned her icy gaze back on Dash.

"Back-up plan? You don't need a back-up plan; you're just insane. You can't work and practice football at the same time. What happens when you start training again, hmm? Who's to say you won't be so in love with this _job _of yours that you decide to quit what you're_ really _good at!"

Dash fixed Paulina with a hateful glare. "You think I'd really give up what I love? You think—"

"Yes, Dash!" Paulina interrupted. "I do! And I'm not the only one! Everyone else on the A-list—"

But suddenly a loud noise and more shouting drowned out the quarreling A-listers. Dash turned to see what the noise was, and Paulina whipped her head around Dash to stare at the black haired boy she'd been trying to spy on earlier.

"—think I'd get over it in one night?" Danny grabbed hold of Foley's shoulders and pushed him up against the locker, causing the horrible sound that had interrupted Paulina and Dash's fight to echo through the hall again. Danny's eyes were glowing green as he glared at Tucker. Paulina felt her lips form a dreamy smile.

_So hot_, she thought.

Tucker mumbled something inaudible, but Danny barely allowed a second before he responded. "Well you thought wrong. This is big deal, Tucker and—"

Someone cleared his or her throat very loudly, causing Danny to stop and look around. Sam had her lips pressed together in a way that made her look like (Paulina couldn't be sure) she was suppressing laughter. She motioned to the gawking crowd. Danny took note of the watchful eyes, his eyes dropped the glow (much to Paulina's disappointment), and he let go of Tucker, who tried to run off.

Danny, however, grabbed hold of the back of Tucker's shirt collar and forced Tucker in front of him, in the direction of the doors leading outside. Sam fell into step beside Danny and thumped Danny on the head, even though she was now openly smiling. Surprisingly enough, Danny smiled right back and shrugged before turning away again.

As the fighting friends walked off, the hallway resumed it's normal noise and pace. Paulina was still smiling dreamily after them when she heard Dash mutter, "Geeks."

Paulina turned an outraged face on Dash. "You _adored _Phantom before everyone knew he was Fenton. What's gotten _into _you lately?" She now had her hands on her hips and was glaring at Dash.

What happened next was odd. Dash opened his mouth to respond, but shut it quickly. His face morphed from an expression of pure anger to resigned indifference. "Nothing." He glanced back at the doors the famous trio had just exited, then he turned back to Pauilna. "I can't go to the Nasty Burger today. I've got to work. See you English."

With those last few words, he stalked off. Paulina watched him go with a confused expression. _What _had just happened? She frowned as she walked in the opposite direction, toward her next class. She wasn't sure she liked this "new" got-a-job-and-thinking-ahead-and-acting-more-responsible-but-hating-on-Danny-Phantom Dash.

After the fight on Sunday, Paulina knew why Dash didn't like Phantom anymore: he was jealous. But she still couldn't figure out why the dislike had only appeared after the world found out who Phantom really was. As for Dash wanting to get a job and starting to make different plans for his future, Paulina could think of nothing that would warrant such a change in the jock.

She sighed angrily and entered the classroom with only a second to spare. The bell rang loudly, and Paulina took her seat in the back of the room. If she weren't worried that Dash's behavior change would affect her own popularity, Pauilna wouldn't even worry herself with his problems: she would assume that Dash would snap out of his strangeness eventually, and she could move on with her life for the time being. But seeing how Dash didn't seem to be worried about his own problems, _someone _had to be.

"Can someone tell me what group was finally able to pass the early Populist ideas? Yes, Ms. Manson?"

Paulina spared half a glance at the goth as she answered. "The Progressives."

"That's correct. You see, the Populist platform crumbled when..."

Paulina tuned back out. She was preoccupied now that she had glanced toward Sam. Danny was sitting right behind her, and even though the goth girl had admitted her thanks that Paulina hadn't tried to steal him, Paulina couldn't deny that she was still totally obsessed and in love with him.

Still...the phone call she had received from Sam yesterday had shaken her a little bit. After the shock of Sam actually saying thanks for something wore off, Paulina couldn't help but feel a little tiny bit bad for still obsessing over Phantom. She was even considering calling off her plan to get Fenton to ask her to prom. As strange as the phone call was, Paulina could tell that Sam had actually meant what she had said. That short conversation was the closest they'd had to a _actual_ conversation (one that didn't involve yelling or screaming or threats or hurtful—but true—words). So actually, and she was scared that she was really thinking this, Paulina felt like she..._owed _Sam to not mess up her thank-you.

Paulina huffed and turned her head back toward the front of the classroom. She still wasn't paying attention though. Not only had Sam's thank-you messed her up, but the reason behind the phone call had. Sam had said that someone had called her and told her something surprising. She had said she didn't want to miss her chance to let someone—however unexpected—know how she felt.

_Hmm...that's deep. Not sure I like deep thoughts like that. Why should I bother...?_

But she couldn't help herself. What if Dash or Star or one of her other cheerleader friends decided to make a—a—a last call? Would she be their last call, too? She would hope so. Paulina stole another furtive glance at Danny. Was there any possible hope Danny would call her and confess his undying love?

Paulina rolled her eyes. Even she had to admit that was unlikely...but still, she could hope.

But what if...what if she made a last call?

"Okay, for the last five minutes of class, read the section in your book on page 78 under the heading _Things You Didn't Know About History_."

Paulina opened her book to the right page simply to avoid being reprimanded. But what the teacher had just said rattled around in her brain. _Last five minutes...things you didn't know..._

Biting her lip, Paulina glanced up once more, this time to look at someone on the other side of the classroom, as a guilty feeling rushed over her.

_Ugh, I cannot keep these sympathetic feelings going on any longer. It was _forever _ago. It doesn't matter anymore. _

But even as the day droned on, Paulina wasn't able to shake the feeling of needing to call this person and admit what she'd done. Throughout her Nasty Burger meeting and the new episode of _Drama in Paradise_, Paulina thought of only two things.

Unexpected surprises and not letting a chance to do a good thing pass by.

* * *

She was lying in bed with the covers pulled over her, staring at her math homework. Staring at it but not really seeing it. She looked out the window and saw the familiar glow of a silver haired, black-clad ghost fly by in the distance. She was still staring after him when the phone made her jump. She pushed back the covers and jumped off the bed to pick up the phone on her dresser.

"Hello?"

"Hi...Valerie?"

Valerie's eyes narrowed and she grasped the phone so hard she thought her fingers were going to fall off.

"What could you _possibly _want? And why are you wasting my time?"

"I should have expected some wrath, I suppose," came the airy reply.

Paulina's tone made Valerie even angrier. "You suppose? You SUPPOSE? Give me one good reason to not hang this phone up right now."

"Look, I know you hate me because I kicked you off the A-list in ninth grade, but—"

"Are you really that shallow?" Valerie asked bitterly. "You think I don't like you simply because you kicked me off? Okay, maybe that's why I couldn't stand you for awhile—because you were supposed to be my friend but you weren't—but I got over that a long time ago. I can't stand you because you are a low, shallow, evil...PIG who uses people and doesn't care about—"

"Ooookaaaaay! I get it!" Paulina interrupted. Now there was a bitter edge to her voice. "We don't like each other; now that we have that thoroughly established, I'd like to say something." Valerie didn't say another word. She figured as soon as she opened her mouth, she'd start spitting out vicious words again. "Okay...well, I'd like to...apologize...for my behavior in ninth grade. I shouldn't have thrown you out of the popular circle for the reason I did."

Several seconds—or possibly minutes, perhaps even hours or days—passed before Valerie thought she would be able to speak again.

"I'm...sorry?"

Paulina sighed. "Look, maybe I should actually say I'm sorry I didn't offer to let you back in the group."

"I didn't want back in—"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Paulina interrupted. "But it was still my duty to offer to let you rejoin the group once your dad got his job back, but I didn't because...because of the rumors that were going around."

"What rumors?" Valerie asked, now intrigued despite not wanting to be.

"Right before your dad lost his job, people had started talking about how you were definitely going to be top of the food chain before long. We were two of the most popular girls in school, and we still had three more years ahead of us. But people were saying how you'd pass me in no time. I...I was jealous. Your dad losing his job was the perfect way to get rid of you, but when he got it back, I was scared again. Your fall from and then return to popularity would make you a shoe-in to be more popular than me. So...I didn't offer for you to come back. But I soon realized that you wouldn't have come back anyway so I decided there was no real reason to feel bad about it, until recently anyway."

Again, Valerie wasn't able to speak right away. Paulina had one thing right, though: even if she'd been offered to rejoin the A-list, she wouldn't have...not after how she'd been treated. But this wave of sympathy from Paulina was weird. Why did she feel sorry all of a sudden?

"I...I guess I should explain a little bit. See...Sa—someone called me yesterday and told me something big, something unexpected, that I never would have guessed in a million years. And so I got to thinking about something I needed to tell someone that was unexpected, and well, you were the first person I thought of. And I decided to go ahead and call you because I'd probably regret it if, say, I died in the next five minutes or something. I'm the only one who could really tell you how I feel, and if I didn't tell you, you'd never know. So there, not totally random."

Valerie pursed her lips. "Well...wow, Paulina. I think this is the deepest conversation I've ever had with you."

"I know, right. It's totally strange, but it's good of me to do."

Valerie rolled her eyes at the girl's ego. " Yeah, well, thanks. It wouldn't have changed anything even if you had told me that in ninth grade, but thanks for taking the time to tell me now."

"Hmm...you're welcome," Paulina replied. "Well, I've got to go."

Valerie was thankful the conversation wasn't going to drag on. "Yeah, me too. Bye."

A click on the line told her Paulina had hung up.

* * *

**A/N: **Hope you enjoyed! I've got to say, I like this deep Paulina/Dash relationship thing that's evolved. Turned out more interesting than I had planned. I love it. :D

I hope to have the next chapter up...well, hopefully before another month passes. In the meantime, please review and let me know what you think about this one!


	17. Valerie

**A/N: **Well…this is it, the last chapter. Sad time. :(

I decided to go ahead and post it because I'm impatient; I finished this chapter last night because I couldn't wait. This is good and bad for you: good, because you didn't have to wait another month for this chapter, bad because you now have no more chapters to look forward to. I hope you enjoyed the ride, and I hope you enjoy the last chapter!

Sooo…after a (very short) debate I had with myself, I decided to break my rule of not allowing the characters receiving calls to do any thinking about the call they just received until the next chapter. Seeing how there isn't a next chapter, I decided to allow the character receiving this call to do some thinking at the end of the chapter. I believe it fits very nicely, and a wrap up chapter would've been short and silly, not to mention it would've broken the way these chapters have been set up, and I'm too OCD to let that happen.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed!

**Disclaimer: **I've already disclaimed both of these things, but for good measure, I don't own "If Today Was Your Last Day" or _To Kill a Mockingbird_.

* * *

**Last Call: Valerie**

* * *

Valerie didn't go to school the next day.

"I really don't feel very well. My head hurts and,"—she moaned—"so does my stomach. Can I just stay home today? Missing one day won't kill me."

Her dad had given in without much of a fight, and Valerie had retreated back into her room, where, two hours later, she'd managed to stay preoccupied by finishing _To Kill a Mockingbird_. However, upon finishing the book, her mind was free to think. She glanced around her room quickly, looking for something else with which she could distract her mind. Her eyes landed on her unfinished science project, but it wasn't due for another month, and she was too exhausted from reading the last hundred pages of her English book to work on science.

The momentary lapse of something to do was all that was needed to release the floodgates.

Without warning, Valerie's mind shifted back to the insane phone call she'd gotten yesterday. Paulina had apologized for something. (Not something that actually made a difference in Valerie's life…but still, Valerie didn't know the girl was capable of sympathy.) _Paulina. PAULINA! The girl actual _does _have a heart…somewhere underneath that cold and evil exterior…somewhere __very very _very_ deep_ _inside that coarse outer shell of hers. _

And if Paulina had the heart and the guts and capability to call someone she didn't like and apologize for something she'd done, what kind of person did that make Valerie?

"A lowlife. A coward," Valerie murmured to herself. She sighed and decided to do what her dad thought she was doing: lie down in bed. She put her hands behind her head and stared at the crumbling ceiling.

Wasn't that the real reason why she hadn't gone to school today? To avoid her problem? To avoid the girl who was the reason why she couldn't escape thinking about her problem? So the real reason why Valerie hadn't gone to school today was because she was…a coward, through and through.

Valerie tried to subdue these thoughts. She hunted ghosts, she risked her life to rid…or, um, _help _rid, the city of unwanted ghosts. That wasn't being cowardly! That was being heroic! That took guts!

_But you don't have the guts to face your real problem. _

Valerie moaned and shut her eyes. She grabbed a pillow and stuffed it in her face. She _was _a coward, and if she were honest with herself, she'd known it for a long time, and so had other people.

Hadn't Danielle called Valerie out just the week before, saying she was running away from her problems? And just four days ago, her dad had told her she was a liar. Valerie scoffed. What did they know? Nothing, that's what.

The soft beeping noise that alerted her to the presence of a ghost interrupted the silence. As soon as Valerie muted the noise, her dad opened her door.

"Hey, Sweetie. Feeling any better?"

Making a split second decision, Valerie yawned and nodded. "A little bit, but I think I'm going to take a nap."

Her dad smiled. "Good idea. I'll leave you alone and let you get some rest." Valerie nodded again and shut her eyes. As soon as the door shut, however, she sprung out of bed and activated her hunting suit. Within seconds, she was flying through the air, in search of the ghost that had triggered her tracker. When she noticed a large group of people running, she took off in the direction they were running from.

A ghost tiger was rampaging throughout town, causing chaos. It roared, sending another group of frightened people running away. The tiger noticed the frantic people and chased after them. "Oh no you don't!" Valerie yelled as she barreled down on the white and green tiger. She shot at it to draw its attention away from the scared pedestrians. It growled and began chasing her instead. Valerie smirked and let the ghost get as close to her as she dared before flipping into the air and sending a volley of shots at its back.

It roared in pain and turned blazing yellow eyes in her direction once more. "Come and get me," Valerie taunted. As the tiger ran toward her, she activated her shoulder blasters, which effectively stopped the tiger's rampage. It whimpered in pain as Valerie pulled out her thermos to trap it. She shook the thermos with pride and heard the protesting roars of the tiger from within.

A semi-large group of people were now emerging from hiding places and walking back to the scene of the chaos. Many clapped, others returned to their normal business without so much as a glance at the red-clad girl who had triumphed over the beast (after all, what was a day in Amity Park without a ghost attack?), but Valerie heard the voice of one small child ask his mother a question.

"Mommy, isn't that the girl who hunted Danny Phantom?"

Sourly, Valerie didn't spare a glance at the concerned child. Instead, she kicked back up into the air and returned home. She lay back down on her bed and folded her arms across her chest. Even capturing a ghost hadn't made her feel any better. That little kid had ruined the moment for her.

Valerie had given the idea of revealing herself to the town immense thought. On one hand, being free of the secrets and the lies would be nice, but Valerie couldn't deny the fact that even a five year old knew: she used to hunt the ghost that was now the town hero. Instead of being welcomed into society like Danny had been, people would hate her and only recognize her as the girl who had hunted Danny Phantom.

Fed up with her depressing thoughts, Valerie plucked her ear buds from her bedside table. She plugged the end into her MP3 player and fell asleep to the words of "If Today Was Your Last Day."

Friday, Valerie realized that subjecting herself to nothing but her thoughts for company the day before was close to ridiculous, so she decided to drag herself to school, where she would at least have the luxury of drowning out her thoughts with lectures and the babble of other students. Walking through the familiar halls of Casper High turned out to be exactly what she didn't want. She managed to run into Paulina twice before first period and by lunch time, she was so desperate to avoid Danny and his friends that she took her lunch outside and sat under a tree.

By the time she returned home that afternoon, Paulina's words from two days ago were echoing through her mind non-stop: "_I decided to go ahead and call you because I'd probably regret it if, say, I died in the next five minutes or something. I'm the only one who could really tell you how I feel, and if I didn't tell you, you'd never know."_

In the end, despite the words from her father and Dani and the horrible feelings that had been plaguing her lately, those words were what pushed her over the edge. Because, if she had the chance to tell only one person how she really felt before she died, she knew who she would need to call and what she would need to say. Her backpack had barely hit the floor of her bedroom before she whipped out her cell phone.

With the simple push of speed dial three, she was seconds away from the hardest phone call she would ever make.

* * *

"Still wish you could have flown me home. I hate walking."

He sighed. "Yeah, but your dad promised to threaten me with ghost weapons if I spent too much time with you, you know that, so we have to convince your parents that we don't spend _every _second of our free time together. I still don't know where he got those ghost weapons."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Okay, I can see my house. I'll call you back once I'm past my parents and in my room."

"Alright."

He hung up the phone and tapped a few keys on his computer keyboard. Seconds later, Doomed was glowing on his computer screen. He had nearly clicked the play button when his cell phone rang.

"Huh, that was fast," he mumbled, answering the call without a glance at the caller I.D. "Hey, that was fast. What, did you sprint past your parents or something?" He laughed but hesitated when Sam didn't laugh as well.

"I…um, I don't…"—deep breath from the person on the other end—"I don't think you know you're talking to," a voice that wasn't Sam's interrupted.

Confused, he pushed back from the computer desk. The voice sounded familiar…it almost sounded like Valerie, but that was impossible, right?

"Danny, it's…it's Valerie, and, um, I—"

"Valerie!" Danny exclaimed. He stared wide eyed at his wall, picturing Valerie on the other end of the line. By the sound of her voice, she was nervous, probably shaking. Her heart was most likely racing. Quickly, Danny tried to make the conversation less awkward for her, even though it was awkward for him as well. They hadn't uttered so much as a word to each other for three months. "Hey, what's up? How've you been?"

A bitter laugh greeted his ears. "Don't even pretend, Danny. You and I both know this phone call is more than just old friends catching up after months of not talking."

Now at a loss for what to say, Danny remained silent, hoping that Valerie would quickly find words to fill the awkward silence. She took another deep breath before she said anything, though.

"I'm sorry. I've been acting like a kid the last few months, and I—I'm sorry." Danny frowned. She was sorry? Although Danny appreciated the apology, he felt a little let down. After months of avoiding him, all she had to say was— "And I owe you an explanation. I haven't been avoiding you because you're Danny Phantom. You know after we saved Dani from Vlad I started laying off. I mean, you were right about Vlad being evil," Valerie admitted, which confused Danny, "so I knew you must not really be as bad as I thought."

"Wait. What makes you say Vlad was evil? He didn't reveal himself until weeks later."

When Valerie answered, Danny thought he could hear surprise in her voice. "Oh, I didn't—? I mean, I forgot to—? Oh, that's not important just now. Remind me to tell you about it later, though. The point is," Valerie continued, leaving Danny frustrated, "that was when I started realizing that you must not be evil if you were working against him."

"So…you haven't been avoiding me because you don't like Phantom?" Danny asked. Honestly, that was why Danny figured Valerie hadn't spoken to him since he told the world the truth.

Valerie laughed again without humor. "No. The reason I've been avoiding you is because…I was mad that you lied to me."

"_What_?" Danny exclaimed, without thinking. He knew Valerie had some whack judgment sometimes, but there was no _possible _way she could make it _his _fault that he hadn't told her the truth. "Val, you can't—"

"I know. It doesn't make any sense. I realize there was no way you could have told me the truth. I would have freaked out, I know." Valerie paused, then dived in. "But that didn't stop me from hating you for it." Now that Danny had actually heard her say the words, his shoulders slumped and spirit wilted. He'd actually been hoping Valerie would come to forgive him soon and they could be friends again.

Valerie continued talking. "But I don't hate you anymore. And really, I should've come to my senses sooner. I've been really stupid for avoiding you for so long." Danny felt himself smiling now. "I do wish you would've told me after I found out everything about Dani, though. I think I could've handled it, then…probably better than I've handled it the last few months anyway." Valerie sighed. "I guess I understand why you didn't tell me then, either. I'm sorry for hunting you, and I'm sorry for reacting so badly when you told the world you're Danny Phantom."

Danny was still smiling when he said, "I forgive you, really. If the situation was reversed, I probably would've reacted the same way. Thanks for apologizing. So…are we friends again?"

Valerie hesitated before answering. "Well, I was hoping for more than friends." The smile dropped off Danny's face. She had to know about him and Sam—and hadn't their relationship ended years ago—? "What do you say to teaming up to fight ghosts?"

Danny's heartbeat returned to normal and he uttered a relieved laugh. "Yeah, that sounds like a great idea." Danny paused, thinking. There was something he wanted to know. "Hey, if you don't mind my asking, what made you change your mind? Why did you decide to call me today?"

Valerie answered immediately. "Oh, well, Dani had said some things that made me start to feel bad for ignoring you all the time, and my dad called me out for lying to you about _my _secret identity the same way you had lied to me. But what really pushed me over the edge was this phone call I got. The, um…the person who called me told me something I needed to hear, something she said she would have regretted not telling me if something happened to her and she wasn't able to tell me. I guess it was kinda like a last call. So…I decided that my last call should be to you. I figured it was like theoretically giving away the last, like, five minutes of my life or something. Anyway, the point is, I couldn't live with myself if I never made an effort to fix our friendship."

For the first time, Danny had absolutely _nothing _to say. Actually, he was convinced he had heard Valerie wrong. She couldn't have said what he thought she'd said. "Wait, did you just say this is kind of like a last call, if you only had five minutes to live?"

"Um, yeah." Valerie sounded confused by Danny's question. "Why—"

"And you said someone else called you, saying the same thing? This wasn't just your idea?"

"Yeah, that's right. I didn't come up with the idea myself." A moment of silence passed before Valerie spoke again. "And the person who called me said someone had called her. Hmm, I hadn't really thought about that. I wonder—"

"—who started it?" Danny finished for her. His mind was racing, but he tried to keep it quiet long enough to get off the phone with Valerie. "Yeah, that's amazing. So, you said you wanted to partner up, right? Well, why don't you come over around noon tomorrow and you can practice some with me and Dani."

Danny could tell he had confused Valerie with the sudden topic change, but she didn't call him out. She laughed. "Don't you think I know how to catch a ghost, Danny?"

Despite his now overly-active mind, Danny smiled. "Yeah, but for the last two years, you've been pointing your weapons at me." Danny smirked. If they weren't able to be honest with each other, this newfound friendship would never last. "So I figure you should probably get in some practice before we tackle a ghost together. You might forget you're on my side now."

Danny knew Valerie's silence meant she was trying to decide whether or not to be offended. Honestly, Danny didn't think there was any need for them to practice together; he only wanted to set up a meeting together outside school so they could catch up and build their friendship back.  
And he wanted to meet soon, before they could retreat into awkward silence again for the simple fact of not remembering what it felt like to be friends.

Valerie finally responded, with a smile in her voice. "Yeah, okay, I'll be there. I'm sure Dani will be psyched to see me."

"See ya, tomorrow, Val."

"See ya, Danny."

As soon as Danny pressed the end button on his cell phone, the smile on his face faded and stared out the window, thinking.

Valerie said someone had called her to make a "last call," the same thing that he himself had done just last Monday. What did that mean? That someone else had had the same thought he'd had?

Or that Vlad had decided to pass on Danny's words?

Danny laughed, surprised and leaned his arm against his desk. He propped himself against his hand. The filthy, rotten billionaire had actually taken what Danny had said to heart? Imagine that. So…what? Had he called Valerie and then Valerie had called him? _No, _Danny told himself. _Valerie said the person who had called her was a girl. _So had Vlad called some girl, who somehow had a connection with Valerie? Or…

Or was the situation much broader than one or two people? Vlad had called someone. And then whoever he had called had called someone else, who had called someone else, and so on, and so forth, until…until the chain made its way back to Danny.

Danny leaned back in his chair and frowned. He couldn't help but wonder how many people had been affected by his actions on a bored Monday afternoon. How many people he knew had been touched by his one, seemingly unimportant phone call? Who would Vlad have called? Besides his mom (to confess his undying love, which Danny assumed he would've heard about) and his dad (to tell him how much he can't stand him, which, again, Danny assumed he would've heard about), Danny didn't think he knew anyone Vlad would've called that he also knew. Of course, there was Sam and Tucker, but what would Vlad have to say to either of those two? And besides, Vlad was being forced to keep a low profile. There weren't many people, including the four he'd just thought of, that would've kept Vlad calling them a secret.

And if Danny couldn't track Vlad's call, there was no way for him to know how many people had been reached. So he settled himself for thinking back over the last week and a half, trying to think of anything unusual that had happened.

It didn't take long for him to think of something.

His mom had called Dani to tell her she could live with them. Had that been the work of a last call? The action _was _very unexpected, and it had happened fast. Before he'd had time to think over that thought, another one was pushing for attention. Tucker had asked Jazz out on a date. Could he have made _that _a last call? Danny even began thinking that the rumor of Dash getting a job might have been the work of a last call.

Danny smiled. So that was at least nine people, including himself, who had been affected by the chain of phone calls. _Huh_, Danny thought, _what are the chances?_

And he realized that, even if he didn't know the full scope of the picture, everyone's life had to be a little bit better now, didn't it? Vlad had seemed thankful that Danny was sympatric toward him. Dani was now getting to live here with him and his family. Valerie wasn't mad at Danny anymore. And…even Tucker and Jazz were happier.

Tucker had finally worked up the courage to tell Danny about his date Saturday night. After pretending to mad at him for an entire day (during which, Danny managed to cause a huge commotion in the hallway at school that had completely embarrassed Tucker), Danny took mercy on his best friend and told him he'd already known about the date and that he wasn't really mad anymore. Tucker had been surprised, then angry at being fooled and followed, then understanding. Apparently, he and Jazz were planning to get back together the next time she was in town.

Danny suddenly thought back to last Tuesday, when he had found out Mr. Lancer was getting married. The man had seemed anxious that day, as if he were actually getting married _that day_. He had said it was nothing, but now Danny wondered if there might have been more going on…perhaps he'd been dwelling on making a last call too?

Danny shook his head. He was letting his imagination run away with him now; he was picking at scraps. Even so, Danny couldn't help but up the number of people touched by last calls to ten.

As he thought of Mr. Lancer, the mysterious Mr. Johnson also appeared in his mind—he and Lancer had become fast friends over the past week. _I really ought to stop calling him the mysterious Mr. Johnson_. After all, there wasn't anything more mysterious about him than any other teacher. Danny had found nothing since his first meeting with the man to make Mr. Johnson appear strange to him, except for the ever-present anxious feeling whenever he was in the same room with the man for too long, which didn't happen much. He figured he should just put his thoughts to rest; convincing Dani to do the same, however, was proving difficult.

But…really, there was no need to be suspicious of the unassuming man. If he had learned anything from Valerie's call and figuring out that he had caused a handful of people to think about their last minutes of life, it was that each day should be lived as if it were his last. After all, there was no way people could know when their last few moments of life would be, and if Danny attempted to live each day as his last, then he would have no regrets when he finally did live out his last day.

His cell phone rang again, interrupting his thoughts.

He picked it up, again without looking at the caller I.D. "Hello?"

An angry sigh greeted him. "_Sorry _I took forever. My parents held me up in the kitchen, talking my ear off. If my grandmother hadn't come to rescue me, I'd probably still be trapped there."

Danny laughed. "Why, hello to you too, Sam." Sam had no choice but to laugh, and Danny could tell that she was becoming less and less stressed out now that she had finally been able to get back on the phone with Danny. But now, Danny had something he needed to tell her. "You'll never guess who just called me."

"Um…the president," Sam guessed. Danny smiled.

"No, I said you'll _never _guess; you and I both know the president has installed a special phone in his office so he can contact me the next time the world is in mortal peril." They shared a laugh. Even though that wasn't true, the president had been very thankful for Danny's heroics last spring and made sure that Danny would be available if the world ever faced something like the Disasteriod again.

"Okay then, Professor Snape?" Danny rolled his eyes, even though Sam couldn't see him.

"Sam…" he began in a dry voice.

"What? I would be _totally _surprised if Snape called you."

"Yes," Danny said, "so would I, considering he's not real."

"Well! I'm trying to keep the conversation alive. Who called you!" Sam exclaimed loudly.

Danny paused for a second, trying to decide how Sam would take the news. "Valerie."

Just as Danny expected, Sam didn't respond immediately. "Valerie Gray? _The _Valerie Gray? The one who's been avoiding you ever since you revealed yourself? That Valerie? The one who hates your guts?"

Danny winced but trudged on. "Hated would more accurately describe her feelings now. She called and explained why she's been avoiding me for so long, and she apologized. She wants to be friends again. Actually, she wants to hunt ghosts together. Of course," Danny added for good measure, "if you're okay with that."

Danny could tell Sam was having trouble digesting the information. "And you're sure that she's _really _sorry? It wasn't just some…some superficial mess to get back on your good side?"

"Yes," Danny replied whole-heartedly. "I'm sure."

"Well then," Sam responded, "I…suppose that's fine."

"And you don't have any problem with me spending time with her?" Danny asked, again wanting to clear any and all waters of misunderstanding before it was too late.

At this, Sam actually laughed. "Oh, Danny Danny Danny, only girls with self-esteem issues have a problem with their boyfriends hanging out with other girls. Besides, I trust you."

Danny smiled, grateful that Sam was so understanding. She was obviously more concerned about the fact that Valerie hadn't been completely heart-felt with her apology than the fact that she wanted to be his hunting partner.

A sudden inspiration hit Danny. If he were going to live like every day was his last, he needed to start sometime. What better time than now?

"Hey, Sam?"

"Hmm? What is it?" she asked.

"You know I think you're beautiful, right?"

Again, Sam's response was slow, but Danny could tell there was a smile on her face when she responded. "Thanks, Danny…because…even girls who don't have self-esteem issues need to hear those words from their boyfriends every once in a while."

A smile stretched across Danny's face.

This was only the beginning.

* * *

**A/N: **Okay, okay, so I actually broke another one of my rules, though not _technically_. In this chapter, I made it waaaay more obvious than in other chapters who was going to be called (even though Valerie didn't actually say she was going to call Danny). Honestly, though, I'd be surprised if most people didn't pick up on the direction of this chapter was heading before it was even posted. I've been steadily building up to this call the entire story, so I figured it was safe to let Valerie's thoughts wander. I also feel like her thoughts were a central part to her building herself up to make the call.

It's over! I ended up loving this story SO MUCH MORE than I had originally intended. For those of you who started reading this two years ago, when I made it very clear that this story was a completely random idea and that I had no definite plans or ideas about where it was headed, thank you for sticking around with me throughout the entire project! And for those of you have hopped on board over the last six months as I gained inspiration for and finished the story, thank you for reading!

Also, I bet no one can guess who my favorite Harry Potter character is. :P

**To my reviewers: **

I honestly cannot express enough how much I love each and every one of your remarks. I re-read all my reviews after finishing this chapter and was happy to relive the positive words (and even the negative remarks) that motivated me to do the best I could on these chapters. I thank you all for the kind and motivational words you shared with me!

**Random Story Notes:**

The entire story lasted 12 days, from Monday of one week, to Friday of the next.

The final document was 104 pages and 43,483 words (however, this also includes my long-winded A/Ns and doesn't account for the minor editing I sometimes do on FanFiction).

Only 5 people (an anonymous reviewer, bookphan44, TexasDreamer01, Elle Aitch, and raincaster) mentioned something (either through review or PM) about the story rounding off at Danny. Although only one of those people (raincaster) flat-out predicted that Valerie would call Danny (before Paulina's chapter was posted, I mean; raincaster predicted this call after chapter 6), one other person (Elle Aitch) hinted about speculation that Danny would call Valerie (after chapter 5).

I like and hope you all appreciate how the nature of the calls evolved but ended up coming full circle. Danny started the calls with the line "if I only had five minutes to live." From there, the first few characters also had the same reason for calling. Although that sentiment persisted throughout the calls, other reasons developed, such as "just wanted to brighten your day," "wanted to clear the water," "wanted to be unexpected," and more. But in the end, the calls all boiled down to "the last five minutes."

I really enjoyed having to create fun backstories for some of these calls (most notably…Vlad/Lancer, Lancer/Pamela, Tucker/Jazz, Damon/Kwan, Kwan/Sam, and Paulina/Valerie). I also enjoyed being challenged to have the mindset of so many different characters…kept my mind interesting and busy as I changed mindsets so often! And for anyone who has trouble writing certain characters, I suggest you attempt to write a story in which you FORCE yourself to write from so many different perspectives.

I ended up being very surprised (and very happy with) how much time I spent on popularity during this story. From Star's reasons on why she's still friends with both Paulina and Valerie to Kwan's ability to stand up to Dash and still remain popular to Dash realizing there's more to life than football and him and Paulina having a slight falling-out.

For anyone who picked up on Jeremy's hesitation during his phone call with Jack_—"I thought you'd like to know that they've been put to good use a good number of times. I honestly don't know what we would've done without them. And well—uh, well never mind. Just know that we appreciate them."_—I hope you now realize what Jeremy decided not to tell Jack. ;)

For those of you interested in Mr. Johnson, I realize I never "solved" that mystery. But it doesn't take much thinking to realize that I actually _did_. Many people have told me what think about Mr. Johnson, and they are correct; I also assume there are a number of readers out there who have figured it out but haven't told me what they think. For anyone who is confused and cares about the anxious feeling Danny gets about Mr. Johnson, re-read the first few chapters of the story, the ones that were posted two years ago, for a clue.

And finally, I'm impressed with how many people have expressed their thoughts on trying to think of who their last call would be. Glad I was able to make some people think! :)

**End Story Notes**

I don't have any stories planned at this time, but that doesn't necessarily mean I'm done writing. I just can't tell you if or when to expect a new story.

Forgive my long-windedness! I just like making sure everything is perfectly clear before leaving a story.

Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing! Please take time to leave one more fantastic review to tell me how this chapter was!


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